


Awake

by Kaz_MJ



Series: Positive and Negative [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Blood and Injury, Coma, Desperation, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, Minor cursing, Pet Gaster Blaster - Freeform, Poison, Sleep Deprivation, dying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-22 18:50:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 39,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20879000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaz_MJ/pseuds/Kaz_MJ
Summary: When Horror gets sick everyone believes it's just a normal disease that will pass on it's own. They soon realize that is not the case and tries to figure out what could be wrong with Horror, but none of them (not even Error) knows what mysterious disease Horror suffers from.While Horror is suffering the gang is slowly breaking apart, taken their frustrations out on each other as they don't know what else to do.Time is running out, and they don't even know it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can still not come up with good summaries...
> 
> Well, I'm back at it again and am planning on making a longer story focusing on each of the gang, like the one I made for Killer earlier in this series. The others still have a major role, but one of them is going to be more in focus. 
> 
> This is Horror's story and I'm gonna make him suffer. You do not need to have read the other stories in this series to understand this one, though there are some things that would make more sense if you have.

“You’re really not helping, you know.”

“I didn’t tag along to help you.”

“You could still help.”

“I have no idea what you’re searching for, and no, I don’t want to know. Besides, if I help you find whatever you need in a _forest_ of all places, we’re gonna go back earlier. And I want to stay out here a little longer.”

“Who says we’re going back as soon as I find it?”

“You will the minute you find what you need. Don’t give me that look. I know you, Horror; you’re too excited to prepare whatever you found in that cookbook of yours.”

“Not today. It’s too late for that. I did not know we would be out here for so long.”

“Well, I’m glad it did. Just look at the stars!”

Horror rolled his red eye light at Dust’s excitement towards the stars, even though he did agree with his companion. The night sky had several bright stars shining down on them. When they arrived at this Au it had been evening, not completely dark and no stars in the sky. Now it was a lot darker outside, the only light they had were the moon, the stars and the small light their own eye lights provoked. Horror could not see in the dark, but he had a better vision than humans. Despite that and the bright moon, he still had trouble seeing the ground. Trees blocked most of the moonlight, making it harder for him to see.

Looking over at Dust, he saw the other had started watching the stars again. Ever since the sun disappeared in the sky, Dust had had a huge smile on his face while he pointed out the constellations he could spot. Horror would sometimes look up at his excitement, but mostly kept his focus on the ground. Dust had many times pointed out the constellations for them, so it was not like Horror was missing out. He did listen to what Dust said and asked questions once in a while to keep the other talking; an excited Dust was better than a bored Dust.

“Could you at least summon a Gaster Blaster so I can see better?” Horror asked during one of Dust’s pauses.

“Oh, right, of course.”

The familiar sound of a Gaster Blaster was heard between them and not a moment later a little Blaster at the side of a cat floated next to Horror, a purple beam of light between its jaws helped illuminate the forest. Horror thanked Dust for the Gaster Blaster and the Blaster for the light, which the weapon chirped happily about.

Horror continued his search, the little Gaster Blaster following him around. It would yawn sometimes of having to keep the light between its jaws and out of boredom. Horror would pet the animal looking skull when that happened, making it purr and make the light between its jaws brighter.

“Don’t be too nice to him. I can’t have him liking you better than me.”

Horror chuckled but did not look up as he heard Dust walk over to him, nor did he stop petting the Gaster Blaster. Dust was not sure if he did that to please the Blaster or just to annoy him.

“You finished your stargazing?” Horror asked.

“You kidding? I could look at it all night,” Dust answered. “Nah, I decided to help you find whatever you’re looking for. It would be a waste if we came back empty handed.”

Horror smiled thankfully as Dust stood next to him.

“And I have to admit I’m getting tired,” Dust continued and clapped his hands together. “So tell me; what exactly are you looking for?”

“A mushroom.”

Dust did a double take. “A mushroom?” he repeated slowly, not sure he had heard it right. “What in star’s name do you need a mushroom for?”

“I found this recipe yesterday that requires it. It’s this chicken recipe with different vegetables, but I think I’ll add some pork or something, you know to add some more meat. I’ll never have mushrooms before, so I think I should try it.”

“Sounds great… Except for the mushrooms. I do not like them, so you shouldn’t get too excited.” Remembering who he was talking to, Dust smirked. “On the other hand, I don’t think there exist anything you won’t eat, so I’m probably wrong.”

“I hope so, otherwise this woulda been a waste of time.”

Dust smiled, looking around the dark forest. “So, what does this mushroom look like? And are you sure it even grows here?”

“It’s called a straw mushroom. I looked after them in the Au we went to yesterday, but they only had them in canned form, and I want them as fresh as possible. They should-.”

“Horror, as fascinating as that is, that does not help me identifying the mushroom,” Dust said with a sigh.

“Right, sorry. There’re brown and white,” Horror answered the question and finally looked up at Dust with a sheepish smile. “If you spot one, call for me. There shouldn’t grow too many mushrooms around here, so I hope we find the right one soon.”

Dust wondered for a moment what difference one kind of mushroom would make compared to another, but kept himself from asking. He had not lied when he said he was getting tired, and there was a good chance Horror would end up losing his concentration in his search if he started talking about different kind of mushrooms. Dust searched the forest some distance from Horror, being more used to seeing in the dark thanks to his studying of the stars. He did not know how long they kept searching for that mushroom, but it was long enough for Dust to close his eye sockets and fall asleep while still standing up. Luckily he did not end up in a deep slumber. He was awoken by Horror calling his name and tapping his shoulder. Dust groaned at being disturbed, but when the tapping and calling did not stop, he opened his eye sockets. He did not notice how dark the forest had become.

Horror stood before him with a sympatric smile. “You should’ve told me you were that tired,” he said.

“’m fine. Wanted to help you,” Dust mumbled, closing his eye sockets again.

Horror tapped his shoulder again. “Come on, Dust, stay awake. I’m not carrying you home.”

Dust groaned again, but did as he was told and opened his eye sockets. Taking a deep breath, he enjoyed the fresh smell from the forest.

Horror smiled again. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

Dust did not move. “Nooo… we haven’t found that thing yet,” he mumbled.

“I found it, Dust, we can go home,” Horror promised, tapping him again when Dust closed his eye sockets yet again.

Dust could become so unaware when he was tired. Horror wouldn’t be surprised if the dust covered skeleton did not listen to him and kept insisted on searching for the mushroom. Knowing they needed to get back to the mansion before that happened, Horror created a portal that could bring them back and helped Dust through it. Dust barely reacted as he was led back to the hideout and into his room. He did register when he was placed on a bed however, and fell asleep within a minute.

Horror rolled his eye light at the now sleeping skeleton. He considered for a moment helping Dust out of his clothes, as Dust did not even take the time to do that before fallen asleep. Horror left Dust with his clothes on. It was not the first time he had falling asleep fully clothed, and it would not be the last time either.

Horror left the room quietly, letting Dust be for now. He made his way to the kitchen and placed the mushroom he had collected in the fridge. Making his way back to his own room, he met Nightmare on the way and greeted him shortly before continuing towards his room. He knew Nightmare had stayed up to make sure he and Dust returned. Nightmare was probably on his way to check on Dust. He could be such a mother-hen sometimes.

Crashing down on his bed Horror only now noticed how tired he was. They came back a lot later than he had thought they would, and he could feel that now. When he was about to take his hoodie off, he noticed how unusual heavy it was. It was only now he remembered he let Dust’s Gaster Blaster rest in his hood. The Blaster had fallen asleep a little before its master, unknowingly revealed how tired Dust was. It would be best for the Gaster Blaster to be called back, but only Dust could do that and Horror would feel a little guilty for waking him when he was that tired. It would not hurt any of them to let the cat sized Blaster sleep in his room tonight.

Horror carefully removed his hoodie, making sure he did not wake the little Blaster still nestled in his hood. Folding his hoodie together, he laid it on his desk, hoping the Blaster would be comfortable enough like that. Seeing as it did not stir, Horror petted it one last time before leaving it alone.

Horror sometimes missed having his own Gaster Blasters. They would always be a good comfort for him when he needed someone. Being made of his magic they understood how he felt, what he needed, and would comfort him as best as they could. He had not been able to summon Gaster Blasters since he got his crack in his skull.

Gaster Blasters depended on their masters on their behavior. If they had not been tamed, had not been trained, they would only listen to their master and would not hesitate in firing when they were summoned. Dust’s Gaster Blasters had been aggressive when they met him, most likely as a result of his insanity, but had since calmed down and acted more like dogs now (at least towards the gang). They were the only ones like that; Nightmare didn’t have any. Killer could only summon one big Gaster Blaster, but it did not react to much, seemed rather emotionless. Killer did not use it very often. Horror was not sure if Cross could even use Gaster Blasters, as he had never seen him do it. Horror was not sure about Error’s, as he only saw them during erasing an Au, but they seemed pretty tame when he thought about it.

Horror finished undressing and lay down on his bed. It did not take long before he too was fast asleep, unaware of how painful his next few weeks were going to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always liked the idea of the Gaster Blasters acting like pets and couldn't resist writing them like that here.
> 
> As far as I know it is unaware if Horror is able to use Gaster Blasters (though it had been a long time since I've read the comic...) so I made him incapable of it in this story. I'm also not sure whether Nightmare and Cross can use them, but I've never heard of them using them, so again, I did not make them able to do it.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you'll stick around to the end :D


	2. Chapter 2

The following morning Horror gained conscious by someone pushing his skull. Horror groaned and rolled over, mumbling something about not wanting to get up just yet. Whoever was trying to wake him was having none of it and pulled his sheets off. While that did make his sleep less comfortable, Horror still refused to wake up. He heard some kind of a growl followed by a whine. It became quit after that.

Try as he might, Horror could not fall back to sleep. It would not be the first time someone tried to wake him and gave up after some tries, but it was the first time he heard a whine like that afterwards. The thought would not leave him alone. Sighing dramatically Horror let whoever was trying to wake him win and opened his red eye light, coming face to face with a cat sized Gaster Blaster.

“Dusty?” Horror said startled.

Dust’s Gaster Blaster chirped happily despite looking very tired. ‘Dusty’ was originally a nickname for Dust Cross came up with. Dust was not always too happy about being called that, which only made the others call him it more often. Eventually he did not react too much to it and they somehow ended up calling his Gaster Blasters the nickname instead, making sure it was never forgotten.

Dusty’s eye lights that matched those of its master barely shone anymore, indicating the Blaster had been out for too long. The Blaster tried not to let it show however, and instead nuzzled its skull against Horror. Horror chuckled at the Gaster Blaster’s behavior and started petting it, making it purr. He had no idea if Dusty had woken him because it needed to rest or because it wanted attention. It really had a lot in common with Dust.

“Okay, okay, I’m happy to see you too,” Horror said as he gently pushed the Blaster away from him. “Let’s see if Dust is up yet and if he’s not, he will be soon.”

Dusty the Gaster Blaster whined when Horror pushed it away, but chirped happily again at the mention of Dust. After getting dressed Horror stretched, making his bones pop with a sound that sounded painful, but Horror’s relaxed smile told a different story. Opening his door he indicated for the Blaster to follow him, which it happily did. Together the two of them walked over to Dust’s room. Before opening the door Horror wondered if he should hold the Gaster Blaster, as it would most likely be happy to see Dust again after being separated for so long, but decided against it. It could be fun to watch.

Horror had not even opened the bedroom door halfway before the Gaster Blaster flew into the room. Location Dust on the bed it chirped happily again and flew over to him, landing on top of him. Dust woke up in surprise but otherwise did not react, showing this was not the first time he had been woken like this.

“Dusty?” he mumbled sleepily as the Blaster nuzzled against his vertebra. “Did I summon you in my sleep again?”

It happened at least once a week someone in the gang had a bad enough nightmare to summon attacks in their sleep, Horror being the typical one to do so. Dust would sometimes summon his Gaster Blasters in his sleep. If the nightmare was really bad, he would make them attack, resulting in them destroying the room and then some. That had luckily only happened three times. It was after the first time he started training the Gaster Blasters, hoping that would make them hold their fire. They had only fired two times after that incident because Dust had panicked during his nightmare and forced them fire. The Gaster Blasters cannot refuse what their master wants them to do.

“Nope,” Horror answered the question for the Gaster Blaster, making Dust jump as he had not noticed him up to that point. “You forgot to send it back yesterday.”

Dust blinked a couple of times, then widened his eye lights as memories from last night returned. He smiled apologist down at the Blaster, who still nuzzled him. “Oh, I’m sorry, buddy,” he said, making the weapon look up at him. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. For now you should get some rest.” Patting the Blaster a couple of times, Dust rested his hand on it, making it glow before the Gaster Blaster disappeared. “Thanks for looking after him.”

“I’ll take cash, food, weapons; especially axes or butcher knives,” Horror said teasingly. The only answer he got was a pillow thrown at him, which he caught easily. “Or a pillow. Mine was getting old.”

Horror was gone before Dust could say anything. Dust sighed, yet was not going to just let Horror get away. Now fully awake he got down from his bed and hurried after Horror, determined to get his pillow back. That ended with him chasing Horror throughout most of the mansion, likely waking the others. The chase ended in the kitchen when Dust tackled Horror to the floor, holding him there until he gave the pillow back.

Nightmare was the one who broke the fight up. He had been awake when he heard Horror and Dust running around, yet had decided to ignore it. When he heard a crash he sighed and decided to see what they had broken this time. Luckily they had not broken anything, just knocked some chairs over. Finding them on the ground in the kitchen, Nightmare broke them apart by taking each of them in a tentacle.

“It’s not even 7 am and the first fight has already taken place,” Nightmare sighed as he sat the two of them down. “That most be a new record.”

Horror and Dust just smiled. Having his pillow back Dust returned it to his room while Horror stayed in the kitchen, wanting to find something to eat. Nightmare stayed with him, keeping him company. Somehow they had not woken Killer or Cross, as they had not heard either of them when Dust returned to the kitchen. Either that or the two missing skeletons had gone back to sleep. They were sure they would find out when they came down. For now it became quiet in the mansion except for the kitchen, which held a conversation with three of the five skeletons living there.

The rest of the day passed by rather slow. Not much happened as none of them wanted to do anything. They stayed mostly in the living room, watching whatever they found a little interesting on the TV. Dust slept most of the day, being rather tired after not getting much sleep the last few days. Cross would go outside to train, sometimes by himself, other times asking if someone would join him. Nightmare went with him the first time, but disappeared into the forest after that. He only got back late afternoon. Killer and Horror stayed mostly inside, sometimes they would also join Cross outside.

It was a rather lazy day for all of them. At one point when Dust had been awake, he had summoned his Gaster Blaster again, this time with more energy and fed it in the kitchen for forcing it to be out the whole night. A Gaster Blaster did not need food to survive, but they did still enjoy getting something to eat.

Right now they were all seated in the living room, watching a movie while eaten dinner. Horror had made the new recipe he had wanted to make, yet was the only one who ate it. He was not offended by that as it happened quit often, as the others would prefer something else. He would always say that then there was more for him.

Just like the whole day, nothing happened until they went to bed. Being different monsters with different interests, they all went to bed at different times, and this one was no different. Dust had been the first one to go. Despite having slept most of the day away, he had gotten little to no sleep for about a week, resulting in him still feeling rather tired.

Horror went to bed an hour or two later. He planned on visiting Horrortale tomorrow, as it had been some time since his last visit. He knew his brother was doing just fine without him, but he still felt like he needed to check on him at least once a week, just in case. That would mean he had to gather some food before he went, as during his cooking earlier he had noticed they were slowly running out of food. They will if Horror wanted to visit Horrortale.

Maybe someone would come with him? That way they could find food to the mansion and Horror could find food to his brother. He could figure it out tomorrow, right now he was feeling rather tired. Lying down on the bed, it did not take long before he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting rather slow, I know. I promise something more is gonna happen in the next chapter :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sickness starts in this chapter, and just in case I'm warning you about mention of vomitting.

Horror did not feel good. He gained consciousness with pain at his midsection and tried to ignore it at first, hoping to fall back asleep. The pain did not lessen, it only increased. Horror sat up in his bed holding around his middle, groaning as he did so. He had never had stomach pain like this before.

Horror took deep breaths, trying to calm down, yet every time he tried the pain increased, forcing him to gasp and stop the breathing exercise. It felt like he had been stabbed, yet could do nothing about it as there was no wound to take care of. Horror laid back down, closing his eye sockets and tried to think of anything but the pain. It was not easy as the pain always brought him back, but he tried as best as he could. He thought about what else he could try and cook, maybe he could try and cook something for his brother when he visited Horrortale? His brother still did not know to his new hobby and would probably be delighted by it. They could try and make something together with the ingredients Horror brought back. It could be a lot of fun.

Horror could not keep the moan back when he felt the pain again. He no longer tried to breathe as it only increased his discomfort. Looking towards the window, he noticed it was still dark outside. He had no idea what time it was, but he doubted anyone else was up.

After ten minutes with him trying to ignore the pain, Horror decided to make his way down to the kitchen. They should have something that could make the pain more bearable, maybe even vanish. Feeling too weak to teleport to his destination, Horror was forced to walk. Standing up he groaned at the pain again, yet kept going. It was a slow walk with him having to stop up once in awhile because the pain became too much. Closing his eye sockets, Horror tried again to breathe through it, but ended up moaning at the pain it caused. Cursing under his breath he tried to move again, hoping he did not wake anyone.

Horror had to lean against the wall at some point as he was hit by a sense of nausea. Closing his eye sockets again, he tried not to think about the feeling, not wanting to throw up. The nausea slowly disappeared, but it did make Horror move even slower for fear it would return.

“Horror?”

Horror gasped, this time by surprise. Turning around he spotted Dust further down the hallway, worry in his eye lights. Horror tried to act natural, tried to look like nothing was wrong, but Dust saw right through him. The dusty skeleton walked over to him, ready to catch him if Horror should fall.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Horror gritted his teeth and tried to sound normal. “’m fine,” he said. “Just… got a little thirsty.”

Dust frowned. “Horror, you keep several bottles of water by your nightstand. Not even you can drink all that during the night.”

Horror sighed, knowing he had been caught. Groaning again in pain, he lost his façade and leaned against the wall. “Just stomach pain,” he confessed. “I… wanted to find something… against it.”

Dust placed a hand on his skull, which Horror slapped away. “You don’t have a fever,” Dust said, not reaction to just having his hand slapped.

“Fever won’t cause… stomach pain, Dust.”

“Right.”

Dust became more worried as Horror just leaned against the wall, now with his eye sockets closed. He must really be in pain to act like that. Just like the rest of them, he got hurt pretty often. Pain was nothing new to them, yet Horror could not handle this one. He was clutching around his midsection, frowning and moaning in pain every now and then. Making up his mind, Dust gently grabbed Horror by his shirt and teleported them back to his room. Horror did not seem to notice this until Dust tried to get him back in bed. Opening his eye sockets, Horror tried to stand up again, but the pain in his stomach prevented it, making him groan and curl in on himself.

Dust helped him lay down. “Stay here,” he whispered. “I’ll get the painkillers. It’s gonna be okay, Horror.”

Not wasting any time, Dust teleported out of the room and into the kitchen. It did not take him long to find the painkillers as they had needed them quite often. When Nightmare healed them he could make the wound and most of the pain disappear, but not all of it and that could become too much sometimes. Grabbing the entire bottle, Dust teleported back to Horror’s room. Horror was in the same position he had left him in, curled in on himself. He had closed his eye sockets again, and when Dust looked closer, he saw tearstains running down from the sockets to the bed. Dust sat gently down next to him, grabbed one of the water bottles Horror kept on his nightstand. He gently helped Horror sit back up, causing Horror to groan again, yet followed Dust’s instructions. He gladly took the pills and swallowed them with the water from the bottle.

The painkillers started to work and Horror sighed in relief as the pain slowly vanished. He stayed down on the bed, wanting to go back to sleep. Dust smiled and stayed with Horror until he fell back asleep. He left the bottle with the painkillers on Horror’s nightstand in case he needed them again. Staying just a little longer, Dust eventually got up and left the room, hoping Horror would feel better in the morning.

They were not that lucky.

Horror woke a second time that night, this time feeling the nausea a lot more than the first time. Ignoring the pain that had returned at his midsection, Horror dashed towards the nearest bathroom and threw up in the toilet. He moaned as he finished throwing up and made a disgusted face at the sight. He held onto the toilet as he rose to flush the vomit, watching it flush as he sat back down on the floor. He stayed there for the rest of the night, feeling the pain in his stomach, nausea and sometimes threw up again, now no longer having the energy to flush it after he was done.

Killer was the one who found him.

On his way towards the stairs with the intention to get to the kitchen, Killer heard the sound of someone vomiting following by a groan when he walked past the bathroom. Not liking the sound of vomiting but knowing he could not ignore it, Killer knocked on the bathroom door, asking whoever was in there if they were okay. Silence was his only answer, making Killer sigh. Whoever was in there was clearly sick, but not enough to not try and hide it.

Turning the doorknob, Killer was surprised but thankful the door was not locked. “Shit, Horror,” he cursed in surprise at the sight that greeted him.

Horror was leaning against the toilet, eye sockets closed and taking deep breaths. He looked really tired and worn out. He had clearly been in here for a long time, if the dry vomit surrounding him was any indication. Ignoring it Killer hurried over to Horror, trying to get a reaction from him; he may not have answered because he had passed out.

Killer smiled when Horror opened his eye sockets. Horror groaned again and hid his skull in his hands that where still resting on the toilet. Killer got down to his level, trying to comfort him and finding out what was wrong. Horror did not answer, just kept his face hidden. He suddenly groaned again and before Killer could react, he threw up again, this time on the toilet instead of in it. Killer made a disgusted face, yet could not get distracted. He needed to get Horror out of the bathroom and cleaned up. Comforting Horror again when he finished throwing up, Killer hoped he could get him to move.

“Hey, Horror, can you stand up?” Killer asked. “It’s not healthy for you to stay in here.”

Horror did not show any sign he was listening.

“Come on, Horror,” Killer tried again, lightly patting his humerus. Ignoring the vomit that had gotten on Horror, Killer grabbed him gently, trying to get him to stand up.

Horror did not budge. When Killer tried a little harder, he whined and tried to back away, but had nowhere to go.

Killer went back to comforting him. “Come on, Horror,” he whispered gently. “You can’t stay here.”

Horror shook his skull, lifting it to look at Killer. “It hurts, Killer,” he whimpered, tears flowing down his sockets. “Please, make it stop.”

Killer had never heard Horror sound like that before. He sounded so broken. Now understanding this was more serious than he thought, Killer stood up, knowing he could not do this alone. However, before he could, Horror grabbed his sleeve weakly.

“Please, don’t leave me.”

Killer went back down to Horror, comforting him as best as he could while also thinking about what to do. He could not do this alone, but he was also afraid to leave Horror alone, even for a short while. Horror was clearly in pain, and by the state of the bathroom he had been vomiting a lot during the night. Horror did not want to be alone about it anymore. Killer did not want to leave him, but he was afraid it would only get worse if they waited for someone else to find them. It would not take him long to find someone that could get the others while he went back to Horror. It would still mean he had to leave Horror.

Horror seemed to have calmed down, yet when Killer tried to move again, he got a fiercer grip on his sleeve.

“Horror, you need to let me go,” Killer said gently. “I’ll be right back, I promise.”

Horror shook his skull and hid it in Killer’s sleeve, still not letting go.

Killer petted his skull. “Horror, I’m gonna find the others so we can help you,” he explained. “I promise I won’t be gone for long.”

Horror whimpered as he let Killer go. Killer slowly stood up, keeping an eye on Horror to see how he reacted. He did not react much, but it was clear he was scared. Killer quickly teleported away; the quicker he found someone, the quicker they could help Horror.

None from the gang had ever walked or teleported into Nightmare’s room without his permission, so he was not prepared this morning when Killer suddenly stood in his room and yelled his name. Nightmare had never jumped up from his bed unless from a nightmare, but he had never expected to be woken like that and couldn’t stop the reaction. After he crashed to the ground, he expected laughter from his gang, believing this to be a prank. However, when he rose up from the floor and was about to glare at Killer, the glare died down at seeing Killer’s panicked expression.

“Killer? What’s wro-?”

“Nightmare!” Killed called again, interrupting him. “Something’s wrong with Horror! Get the others! He’s in the bathroom near his room! I gotta go back to him!”

Killer was gone as soon as he had said that. Nightmare blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend what Killer had said, and if he had even been there. He had talked so fast yet so panicked, which woke Nightmare fully up. Taken action he did as he was told and collected Dust and Cross, letting them get ready while he showed up at the bathroom.

In the bathroom Killer had said they would be, Nightmare found him and Horror on the floor. Killer was comforting Horror while Horror held onto him, hidden his skull and begging to make the pain stop. Vomit covered most of the ground of the bathroom floor. Killer looked desperately up at Nightmare when he arrived, hoping he knew what to do.

Dust and Cross showed up at that moment, both gasping in shock of the condition they saw Horror in. This brought Nightmare to pull himself together. He asked Cross to prepare a bath in the closest bathroom, Dust to gather painkillers and Killer to help him get Horror off the ground. Dust and Cross nodded and went to do as they were told. Meanwhile, Nightmare squatted down next to Horror, letting him know what was going to happen. Horror shook his skull, holding onto Killer even more. He did not want to be moved for fear it would cause him more pain.

Nightmare looked apologetic at Horror, despite the other not looking at him. “Get ready to move him,” he said to Killer.

Killer nodded. He knew the process of moving Horror was not going to be fun for any of them, but they needed to do it. Horror would not get any better sitting on a bathroom floor surrounded and covered in his own vomit. Getting to Horror’s other side, Nightmare nodded for Killer to start lifting Horror up. Killer first stood up as carefully as he could while Horror still held onto him. Now standing up he got a better grip on Horror and as he saw Nightmare did the same, the two of them lifted Horror up from the ground and started carrying him out of the bathroom. Horror groaned at the lifting, but otherwise did not react, much to everyone’s relief.

By the time they arrived to another bathroom, Cross had prepared the shower. Not wasting any time, not even to undress him, they laid Horror down in the bath. Horror sighed contently as the warm water washed over his bones, helping him relax. He still felt the stomach ache, but the warm water made him feel better. Dust came running into the bathroom at that moment, carrying the bottle of painkillers he had given Horror during the night.

While Cross helped Horror getting clean, Nightmare turned to Killer for answers.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Killer answered. “I found him like that.”

“He woke me up during the night,” Dust interfered. “He was groaning in pain near my room. When I found him, he was learning against the wall… He complained about a stomach ache.”

Nightmare nodded. “A stomach ache? We can handle with that,” he said. “The painkillers will help him through it. It should pass on its own.”

“That’s what I thought,” Dust said. “But if he started getting it during the night, shouldn’t it have passed by now? It can’t be a good sign for him to vomit that much either.”

“He might have eaten something he shouldn’t have. If that’s the case then it should be over as soon as it’s out of his system… We’ll have to keep an eye on him for the rest of the day. If he gets worse, we’ll try something else.”

Killer and Dust nodded, slowly calming down. Nightmare was right; Horror had probably eaten something he could not endure and his body was now trying to get rid of it with the vomiting. They hoped this would be over soon.

While still being cleaned Horror got the painkillers to help with the pain. He already seemed a lot better compared to how he was in the other bathroom. As soon as he was clean, they got him out of shower, dried him and got him in dry clothes. After that they moved him to his room, happy to discover he had made it to the bathroom before throwing up. Placing him on the bed, Horror started to breathe again, calming even more down. He closed his eye sockets and it did not take long before he fell asleep.

Cross stayed with him and promised to do so until Horror woke up. He did ask if someone would bring him a book he could read while waiting. Killer brought him a book and went back to the bathroom he had found Horror in less than an hour ago. Together with Dust and Nightmare, he cleaned the bathroom until all the vomit was gone. Just to be sure (and because of the smell still coming from the bathroom) no one was allowed to use it for the rest of the day.

***

Horror awoke during late afternoon. Everyone in the gang had taken turns in keeping an eye on him during the day, and it had been Cross’ turn yet again when Horror finally woke up. Cross bookmarked the book he had been reading and put it aside. He remained silent as Horror blinked a couple of times, trying to regain focus.

“Heya Horror,” Cross said with a weak smile as Horror noticed him. “How are you feeling?”

Horror blinked at him again. When he opened his mouth to answer, he started coughing violently. Cross was by his side in seconds with a bottle of water, which Horror took thankfully.

“Better,” Horror answered after getting something to drink. “And really hungry.”

“I can imagine,” Cross said, taking the now empty bottle away. “I’m pretty sure you threw everything you ate up yesterday during the night.”

Horror looked disgusted, not needed to be reminding of that. That had been a very long night.

“Do you think you could eat something?”

Horror shook his skull. He was hungry, but at the same time he was afraid he would throw it all up again. Despite just drinking an entire bottle of water, he still felt really thirsty. “No, I wouldn’t mind some more water though.”

Normally Cross would have been surprised Horror did not want anything to eat, but after what he had been through that night he did not question it. Reaching over he grabbed another water bottle and handed it to Horror, who started drinking it.

“Are you still in pain?” Cross asked carefully.

“Not much,” Horror answered, pausing in drinking the water. “I do feel a little nauseous, nothing I can’t handle.”

Cross nodded. “We think you may have eaten something that was too old or your body couldn’t handle.”

“It’s possible. I can’t think of what, though… Do you have another bottle?”

Cross looked surprised at Horror, seeing he had indeed also emptied the second bottle. “You’re really thirsty,” he commented. “I’ll need to get one. I can get the others while doing that; they’ll probably like to know you’re awake.”

Horror was about to object that he could get the water himself, but Cross was already out the door. While waiting for Cross (and the others) Horror remembered last night, and how much pain he had been in. It was hard to describe, but the pain had been unbearable. The vomiting certainly did not help. He ended up being so weak he did not care that he threw up on the floor and eventually himself. He do remember how revealed he had been when he realized Killer was beside him; he had wanted to be alone to begin with because he did not want to bother the others about something as little as a stomach ache, yet as time went on he craved someone had been there with him, telling him everything would be okay. He had been too tired to leave the bathroom and wake one of the others by then, thus forcing him to endure it all alone.

When Cross returned with the others, Horror was not sure if he was more grateful for their company or the water bottles they brought. They all commented on how thirsty he was, but did not think too much about it; he had not had anything to eat or drink all day, and as he did not want to risk it and eat something, drinking a lot of water seemed logical.

For the rest of the day Horror stayed in bed. He did suffer from another wave of stomach pain, but it was not as bad this time thanks to the painkillers he got. The same thing happened the next day; Horror would feel sick with stomach pain and nausea. He threw up a couple of times, which they had been prepared for with a bucket. He also drank a lot during that day, now not only water. The gang was still worried about what was causing this, but Horror did seem a lot better compared to yesterday, making them all hope this mysterious sickness would soon pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it is not as easy to write about a skeleton being in pain as I thought. Luckily the whole magical skeleton monster can help a little with that.


	4. Chapter 4

After spending two days in bed with stomach pains, nausea and sometimes vomiting, Horror seemed to have passed whatever had hit him on the third day. Waking up he felt rather tired, most likely thanks to the two days being sick. He was happy to wake Dust, who had insisted on staying with him during the nights, to tell him he was no longer in pain. Dust seemed happy yet at the same time worried the sickness was messing with them and would return. As Horror had no way in reassure that would not happen, he did not comment on it other than saying time would tell. Knowing this to be true but at the same time happy seeing Horror seemed well, Dust suggested they got something to eat. For the first time in two days, Horror reacted happily at the mention of food and wanted to find something right away.

They met the rest of the gang in the kitchen, who were all happy seeing Horror up and about again. He was not permitted to be alone at all that whole day, which he did not mind. He was still pretty tired and napped most of the day away.

By the next day Horror felt like he usually did, and was sure whatever had been wrong with him had passed. The others were still worried about him, but seeing as Horror did indeed look healthy again, they let him leave the mansion to get some fresh air. He was still not allowed to go out alone, but he could be alone in the mansion now. He did not mind the others company, but he did enjoy some private time sometimes.

When they entered the third day and Horror still showed no signs of being sick, the others stopped being so worried about him, now also believing the sickness had left him. Horror was overjoyed at this, as he had wanted to help them gather supplies, something he had wanted to do the day he got sick. He still wanted to visit his brother, but decided to postpone it a little longer. He was afraid he still did not look in good shape and if that were the true, his brother would notice. He did not want his brother to know anything about this sickness as he did not want to worry him. While he was sure his brother would find it odd for him not coming for a visit for over than a week ago, he was positive his brother would not mind.

This time while they gathered supplies they did not make a big deal out of it, meaning they did not kill or hurt many monsters. While it had been some time since their last spreading of negativity, the gang could not help but be worried about Horror and wanted this trip to be quick. They robbed a store from whatever they needed, including a new bottle of painkillers, and only killed the monsters that got in their way. They returned to the hideout in less than an hour.

When the fourth day arrived it started out like the previous days. Horror woke up, made breakfast for himself and ate it in the living room while watching television. He greeted the others as they came downstairs, but kept his focus on the TV. At lunch time he started to feel a little nausea and therefore decided not to get anything for lunch. About an hour or so later he felt fine again and met with Cross outside. The X-themed skeleton had decided to spend some time outside and just enjoy the weather, not something he did that often as he liked to train when the weather was to it. Looking closer Horror did spot sweat drops gliding down the other’s skull, indicating he was actually cooling down from a training session. Horror rolled his eye at Cross not telling the truth, knowing the other had only lied because none of the others (not even Nightmare) could understand Cross’ insisting on training as often as he did. Horror decided not to comment on it this time, knowing Cross sometimes would think they would make him stop. Horror had never seen any problems with it, especially if Cross enjoyed it. He was sure the others felt the same.

During his talk with Cross, Horror suddenly felt an all too familiar pain in his stomach. He tried to ignore it, pretend nothing was wrong, but it proved to be a losing battle. Cross noticed he suddenly was the only one talking. That wouldn’t have been the first time that had happened, but the sudden change in Horror’s expression worried him.

“Horror? Are you okay?”

Horror did not answer him, did not even seem to register he had been asked a question. He fell forward, clutching his midsection and screamed. This pain was more severe than being stabbed, and Horror had tried that many times. It felt like his stomach was being cut to pieces while also being on fire. He fell to the ground and was in too much pain to acknowledge Cross was at his side, screaming after the others for help. Horror kept holding around his midsection, moaning and groaning in pain while doing so. His eye sockets were squished shut and one hand was over his mouth, the nausea from earlier having returned. Beads of sweat appeared on his skull as he tried to fight the unavoidable.

Meanwhile Killer, who had been inside the mansion, was the first one to hear Cross’ scream of help. Killer did not waste any time and threw the carving he had been working on to the ground, sprinting outside. He reached Horror and Cross just in time to see Horror throw up.

Dust and Nightmare appeared not long after. Seeing Horror scream in pain on the ground made them run even faster. Horror did not notice anything around him as he screamed in pain. His midsection felt like it was on fire while being eaten alive. He wanted the pain to stop. Screaming again, he did not notice he unintentionally summoned a range of bloodied bones around him, as if trying to protect himself for something he could not fight.

Nightmare and Dust stopped up as the bloodied bones appeared right in front of them, stopping them in getting to the rest of the team. Killer and Cross were not as lucky as they were next to Horror. Both of them get hit by the sudden attack, and while they both gasped at the pain, they did not pay it any mind, keeping their focus on Horror.

Horror no longer screamed, but was whimpering and begging everyone to make the pain go away. Nightmare and Dust attacked the bloodied bones so they could get through. Seeing Horror crying on the ground and Killer and Cross bleed from the bone attack, Nightmare took charge.

“Dust, run back inside and get the painkillers!” he yelled. He doubted the pills could make the pain vanish, but if they could help just a little Nightmare wanted Horror to take them. “Killer and Cross, you two take care of those wounds. I’ll get Horror back inside.”

Dust immediately did as he was told, but Killer and Cross did not budge, deciding to stay by Horror’s side. Horror had at this point acknowledge he was not alone as he felt Cross hug him from the side, saying comforting words while still sounding panicked. It did not ease the pain, but he did feel better knowing someone was with him.

Nightmare was not pleased about his orders not being followed, especially not in this situation. “Killer, Cross, I mean it, I want those wounds checked,” he said, warning them one last time. “I and Dust will handle Horror for now.”

Cross still ignored him, or he could not hear him over Horror. Killer had been next to Cross and Horror, but this time reacted to what Nightmare said, but not in the way Nightmare expected. He looked at Nightmare with a frown. “Sorry Boss, but we’re not leaving Horror like this,” he said. “This,” he pointed at the wounds the bone attacks had made, “is nothing compared to that,” he said as he referred to Horror. Softening his gaze, he added; “He needs us. All of us.”

Nightmare did not like the sight of the blood slowly pouring down from Killer and Cross, but knew he could not get them to leave unless he actually attacked them. Not wanting to waste any more time than they already had, Nightmare decided to ignore the wounds as well for now. Hurrying over to them he teleported all four of them back in Horror’s room. They removed his hoodie in hope it would be more comfortable and gave him a couple of painkillers as Dust showed up. Horror held onto Cross through it all, barely moved as he got the pills.

The pain did eventually seem to lessen, as Horror started to calm down. He still held onto Cross, as if he was afraid the pain would return if he let go. Cross did not seem to mind, happy to help and comfort his friend. He glided a phalange down his humerus, hoping it helped him to keep calm.

Seeing as Horror was no longer in huge pain, Nightmare grabbed Killer by the arm and started healing him. The wounds were not as bad as the blood indicated, so it did not take long for Nightmare to heal the wounds. Killer had been surprised when Nightmare grabbed his arm, but once he saw the usual healing magic flowed over his arm he relaxed, knowing he was not getting out of this now. Once he was done Nightmare went over and did the same for Cross, though his grip on him was not as fierce. Once the wounds had been healed, they tried again to figure out what was wrong with Horror.

“Is there a chance he ate something bad again during the last couple of days?” Nightmare asked.

“I don’t think so,” Dust answered while thinking back. “He didn’t get anything at least one of us also ate. If it were that, Horror shouldn’t be the only one in pain.”

“But it can’t be the same thing as for three days ago, can it?” Killer asked. “Can it really take a break like that?”

“I dunno,” Nightmare sighed. He had no idea what was going on, never having to deal with anything even close to this. “He did get better, so maybe it isn’t completely out of his system. We’ll have to keep an eye on him and hope it will pass.”

The rest of the day and the whole night was one of the longest periods of time any of them had ever endured. The painkillers did soothe the pain, but not for long. It would become too risky to give him many pills at once, so no matter how much Horror begged for them, they did not give him any more. There was always at least two from the gang with him, but most of the time they would all be there for him, trying to help him as much as they could. The only time one of them left was to get away; Horror’s scream of pain and the helplessness they all felt became too much.

By morning Horror had almost lost his voice thanks to all the screaming he had done throughout the night. Now he would mostly gasp, groan and moan in pain, beg the others to make it stop or trash about, as if trying to get away from the pain. Those were the worst ones, as Horror would sometimes attack while being in that state. It came to a point where they were forced to strap him to the bed, preventing him from using any magic attacks.

That was the last straw. Fearing this was more than just a harmless sickness, Nightmare wanted to find answers. None of them had gotten any sleep that night and that could be seen, yet they all refused to get some rest. Seeing as they already were together in Horror’s room, Nightmare told the gang what he wanted them to do.

“Killer and Dust, I want you to get some sleeping pills. Don’t be long about it and don’t attract any attention. I don’t care if you steal it or pay for it, just do it quick. Horror’s body needs to rest but the pain keeps him from it. The sleeping pills should help with that. Cross, I want you to stay with Horror. If he shows any signs of getting worse, contact Killer or Dust and they’ll get back to ya.”

The three gang members nodded. “What are you gonna do?” Cross asked from his position on Horror’s bed, still holding him close.

“I’m gonna find Error,” Nightmare answered. “I don’t know if he would know anything about this but… I don’t know who else would.”

Not wanting to waste any time, Killer and Dust teleported to some Au they would not be recognized in and get the desired pills. Nightmare teleported to the Void in hope of finding Error, but was surprised to see the Destroyer was not there. Panicking, Nightmare looked around the empty space, but he only spotted the familiar dolls hanging from the invincible ceiling. Cursing, Nightmare was about to turn back, but then spotted the doll presenting Outertale Sans, making him remember what the gang always said; if Error was not at the mansion or in the Void, he would be in Outertale.

Creating another portal Nightmare left the Void and appeared at the spot he knew Error would usually be when in Outertale. He spotted Error immediately, knitting something while looking at the stars. He stopped though when he noticed Nightmare appeared not far from him, his panicked expression made him stand up, ready to take action if needed.

“Error, something’s wrong with Horror!” Nightmare said, getting straight to the point. “I-I don’t know what’s going on. He’s in pain and I can’t do anything to help him! I-.”

“Nightmare!” Error interrupted him. “I can’t understand you if you talk too fast. Calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

“I can’t calm down, Error! Horror’s in pain and I don’t know what to do about it! I don’t know what’s wrong with him! He’s… He’s suffering.”

“He’s sick?”

“I… I don’t know. I fear it’s more than just a harmless disease, but I don’t know.”

Error nodded. Even though he could not sense emotions like the one in front of him, he knew how Nightmare itched to go back to the hideout. Error was not sure what he could do, as he did not know much about the medical world, but he may be able to find more information about it. And he wanted to see Horror, not only to see the symptoms for himself but also seeing how Horror was doing.

The two of them teleported back to the mansion and straight to Horror’s room, where the others were waiting. At the moment Horror was asleep, meaning Error could not get the impression about how severe his pain were. But he could see the sleeping skeleton was in pain. He had a frown on his face and grunted in his sleep every now and then. Walking over to him Error laid a hand on top of his skull, just to check if it were just a normal fever. Feeling no heat from the skull, Error looked back at the gang.

“What are his symptoms?” he asked.

“Severe midsection pain,” Killer answered. “That’s what he complains about the most. He also complains about nausea and vomits every once in a while. He won’t eat, and if he does he throws it right back up.”

Error nodded along before he sighed. “I regret to say I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” he admitted. “I’m no doctor, and even if I were that is not much to go on… How long has he been like this?”

“That’s… a little hard to answer,” answered Dust, hoping he did not sound too disappointed about Error not knowing what was wrong. “He got sick about a week ago for a couple of days. He seemed fine on the third day and only got sick again yesterday.”

“Do you suspect the same disease?”

“I’m not really sure… It can’t be normal for a disease to just… take a break like that, can it?”

“I don’t know but I doubt it,” Error answered, looking back at Horror. “He’s clearly in a lot of pain, even with painkillers in his system… I can search for answers in other Au’s. There are those where monsters were never banned to the Underground or had been living on the surface for a long time, they are bound to have some knowledge about monster diseases. I’ll come back later, or maybe tomorrow, no matter if I found answers or not.”

The gang nodded. While they all had hoped Error could give them some idea what was going on with Horror, they were glad he may be able to find out.

“What can we do?” Cross asked.

“I’m afraid you can’t do more than what you’ve already done,” Error answered. “Be careful with the painkillers; follow their instructions no matter how much pain Horror’s in. Giving him too many will result in an overdose, and that _will_ kill him. Call me if he shows any other symptoms.”

The gang thanked Error before he left, determined to find some answers. That left the gang alone with Horror again, who was still sleeping restless on the bed. Dust started to search on the internet, trying to find something that could ease Horror’s pain since they could not use any more painkillers for a while. Cross still stayed by Horror’s side, but the events the last few days was catching up to him and he eventually fell asleep next to Horror. Nightmare pondered if they should bring him back to his room, but decided against it; Cross may never forgive them for that. Killer sat down beside Horror and comforting him in his sleep, not knowing what else he could do.


	5. Chapter 5

As promised, Error returned the next day along with a book. He explained the book was about all the diseases known to monster kind in some Au and hoped he could find symptoms that matched with what Horror was suffering from. He also came back with a syringe filled with a strong drug and instructed the gang to only use it if necessary. It should help lessen the pain and allow Horror to get some sleep. The drug should be stronger than the painkillers and sleeping pills. He warned them not to use the drug even if it did not seem to do much, as they would risk given him an overdose. Error stayed at the mansion while looking through the book, as he was the fastest reader of them. So far he still had not found anything that matched with Horror’s symptoms.

Meanwhile, the sleeping pills had not been able to keep Horror asleep for long. When he woke, he curled in on himself and again begged for the pain to stop. Cross woke up at that and tried to comfort him, but Horror did not seem to listen through his anguish. Nightmare tried to comfort both Horror and Cross, but it did not seem to work for either one of them. He did consider using the drug Error had provided, but was afraid about it as the painkillers was most likely still in Horror’s system.

Horror could not describe how he felt. He felt weak, out of strength, yet could not fall back asleep thanks to the pain. He’d never had to endure the same amount of pain for so long, forcing him to break his tough attitude and break down. He had cried so many times, screamed in pain until he almost lost his voice, and trashed about, trying to get away from whoever was hurting him. There must be someone that was hurting him. Pain like this could only be through torture, but he could not remember being captured. It did not matter; he just wanted it to stop. Begging them to make the pain stop, to leave him alone, but nobody listened and the pain continued.

Dust had left after an hour of hearing Horror screaming. He claimed he needed some fresh air, but he wasn’t sure anyone had heard him through what was happening. He left anyway. Killer did notice him leave, but had been busy helping Nightmare and Cross keep Horror calm, and decided to leave Dust alone for now. When they got to the point where Horror cried quietly curled in on himself, Killer decided to leave as well, wanting to find Dust. Walking down the hallway he considered to find Error first, hearing if he had found anything, but decided against it as he did not want to disturb the Destroyer; if Error found something useful, he would tell them.

Killer found Dust outside, panting and leaning a hand against a tree while looking down. Looking at the damage around it was clear to see what he had been doing. Now he seemed used up on energy, but the anger and sadness was still clear in his eye lights. Killer walked over to him and at first did not say anything, just being a comforting presence. He knew how Dust felt, as he felt the exact same thing; helpless, an emotion none of them liked to feel.

“I don’t know what to do,” Dust mumbled, knowing Killer was right beside him.

“We can only wait.”

“I’m tired of waiting!” Dust yelled as he punched the tree. “We’ve waited and waited and waited, and still there has been no result! Horror’s suffering and we only sit around and wait! There must be something we can do!”

“We can only wait,” Killer repeated just as calm as before. He hated this just as much as Dust, but it would not help if all of them started to run around in a blind rage. “Error’s gonna find out what’s wrong.”

“How can you be so sure of that?!” Dust yelled, finally turning around to face him. The anger was clearly shown, but the tearstains running down from his eye sockets told something else.

“Because it’s our only hope.”

Dust broke down then and there. Killer caught him before he fell to the ground, holding him while he cried into his hoodie. Dust held onto him like his life depended on it. All the emotions he had been holding back so far could no longer be ignored. Dust had cried just like all the others through all this, but had kept most of his feelings hidden, trying to have a clear head through it all. At that moment he could not keep that façade any more. Killer let him break down, knowing Dust needed to get these emotions out. He comforted him as best as he could.

Eventually Dust calmed down enough that he no longer cried, yet he still held onto Killer. “I’ve never seen him like that,” he mumbled through the lump in his throat. “He’s suffering. I’m afraid he’s… dying.”

“Hey, don’t say that,” Killer said, making him look at him. “We don’t know what’s wrong with him, but don’t assume the worse. Once Error finds out what’s wrong, we’ll find whatever he needs to make him feel better.”

“What if Error doesn’t find anything?”

“This is Error we’re talking about. If anyone’s gonna find answers, it’ll be him.”

Dust smiled weakly. He did feel more confident about everything was going to be okay. He couldn’t help the feeling that something was really wrong, that he was missing something, but no matter how painful it was, he could only wait and hope for the best.

***

Another day passed and Error still had not found anything useful in the book. He had been through every monster disease written in the book and had not found anything. He had read about the diseases he suspected could be the answer, but reading more about it he had to exclude it, as it suddenly did not sound like what Horror was suffering from. He eventually looked through the known human diseases, as there may be a chance he could suffer from one of those. He was a little over halfway through those diseases when Dust came through the door with such a force he almost broke it. Error jumped in surprise, but did not get a chance to say anything.

“Error! Horror is… I don’t know what it is, but it’s freaking me out! Please tell me you found something,” Dust said panicked.

“What do you mean, Dust?” Error asked, kind of hoping the blood covered skeleton showed some other symptom, if only so he could pin point the disease better.

“I don’t know! I don’t even know if you’ll believe me if I told you! Will you please take a look at it?”

Nodding Error abandoned the so far useless book and followed Dust back to their patient. Horror was still moaning and groaning in pain, but taking a closer look Error saw what Dust was talking about; his skull had taken a yellowish shade. Error tilted his skull to the side, not expecting that. Without sharing his thoughts, he took a closer look at Horror, including his eye sockets. He was only slightly surprised at seeing white dots appear in the normally empty eye sockets.

“What do you think, Error,” Nightmare asked, seeing the frown Error now wore.

“This… does not make any sense,” Error mumbled, still looking Horror in the eyes.

Horror tried weakly to get away from Error’s touch. His red eye was unfocused and he was afraid whoever was holding him was going to hurt him. Thanks to his trashing about, lack of food and anguish he had no energy left to protest.

Error let him go as he had seen what he needed and did not want to scare Horror more than he already had. “He has jaundice,” he said. “But he shouldn’t be able to have that. It’s a disease usually caused by liver problems… Horror does not have a liver… This makes no sense…”

Nightmare and the gang wanted to say something, but could see Error was thinking out loud. None of them wanted to disturb his train of thoughts in case he came up with something that could help. They waited anxiously.

“Horror suffered from severe stomach pain for a couple of days. He became better but then it returned…” Error continued thinking out loud, looking towards the ceiling while doing so. “Stomach pain usually happens thanks to organ problems… Horror does not have organs… What else causes stomach aches…?” Error suddenly straightened up, his eye sockets wide.

Nightmare took the chance at speaking. “You came up with something?”

“It may be a long shot, but… is there a chance Horror’s been poisoned?” Error asked.

“Poisoned?!” the whole gang, except Horror, repeated in shock.

Error nodded. “I thought about a parasite for a moment, that would explain the short break he got from the pain, but a parasite can’t survive within a skeleton monster. A poison can.”

“How could he have gotten poisoned?” Cross asked.

“I was hoping you could answer that,” Error said, looking at each of them. “Think back; have you been in any battle recently where Horror got hurt?” He looked at Nightmare. “Has there been a wound you had difficulties healing?”

They shook their skulls at both questions. “Not that I know of,” Killer said, still thinking back. “Nor do I remember any poison related weapons.”

“You think maybe Ink or Dream could have done it?” Dust asked.

“I don’t know about Ink, but I can’t imagine my brother would,” Nightmare said. “He prefers not to harm anyone, and when he feels like he has to, he has never used poison.”

“And I’ve never heard of Ink using poison either. That does not sound like him,” Error said. “And even if they did, why only Horror? Horror isn’t their biggest threat. If they wanted to kill Horror, I can’t see why they would leave the rest of you alone. I doubt Ink and Dream had anything to do with this… If Horror got hurt during a battle, would he hide it?”

“Most likely,” Nightmare answered.

His entire gang had a habit of hiding their injuries when there was no reason for it. Killer was best at it, as he was the most experienced with hiding emotions. Cross was the easiest to get to confess, as he did not like to lie to any of them. Dust and Horror differed, but both hided their injuries for as long as they could when they meant it was not anything serious, which was most of the time.

“He may have hidden one. Check him, but be careful about it; I don’t think he’s aware who he’s with anymore. He might lash out,” Error warned.

“How could he have gotten poisoned during a fight?” Cross asked Error while Nightmare, Killer and Dust checked Horror for any hidden injuries.

“Some people have poison on their weapons,” Error explained. “It’s an effective way to make your opponent fall quickly in battle. Poisons are either meant to be quick or long and painful.”

Horror was not happy about rolled onto his front. He did register someone was talking to him, but he was not sure who. The voice did sound familiar and comforting, making Horror relax enough to not react about being moved. He was carefully moved back on his back again, all the while he took deep breaths to keep calm. While he did have some scars the gang did not know about, there were no sign of any infected or unhealed wound.

“Could it be food poisoning?” Cross guessed.

“I don’t think so. Food poisoning usually passes after a day,” Error said sadly. He started to think if he had missed something as he now had no idea what could be wrong with Horror. After a couple of minutes in pure silence, he sighed. “I have no idea what’s wrong with him.”

Another silence fell over them, only broken by Horror’s sound of pain. That was the worst thing Error could have said. They had thought Error could figure it out, but now even Error seemed ready to give up. If they did not know the cause of what was causing Horror such anguish, they had no way of healing him.

“Then what?” Cross asked quietly. “We… We can’t just give up.”

“And we’re not,” Nightmare said determined. “This is Horror, we’ll never give up on him. We’ll figure something out. We’ll find a cure, no matter what it takes.”

“I could try and search the Multiverse again,” Error suggested. “And I could ask Outer, hear if he has any idea what it could be. Maybe he can cast a new perspective over this. Maybe he’ll see something we’ve missed. Killer, you could try and ask Color as well. It’s a blind shot, but maybe we’re lucky.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Nightmare said. “Can you be back by tomorrow at the latest?”

Error nodded and was gone not long after, again traveling to some Au that could have the answers to Horror’s sickness. That left the rest of the gang with no idea what to do. The silence stretched on, no one knowing what to say. The only sound was Horror’s deep breathing, sounding like he was fast asleep but had his eye sockets wide open.

Then Dust got an idea.

“What if we found a healer?” he suggested. “Or someone who could figure this out?”

“Like who?” Killer asked.

“I dunno, an Alphys or a Toriel maybe. I mean, someone with the role of an Alphys may be able to figure out what this is? Or maybe someone with the role of a Toriel could heal him?”

“I don’t think a Toriel is able to heal this,” Nightmare said. “They’re strong healers, but I’m not sure they’re that strong, especially when they don’t know what’s going on either.”

“But maybe an Alphys could figure it out,” Dust insisted.

“That would require kidnapping, Dust. I don’t think we can take that chance.”

“Why not?”

“Think about it; if we kidnap someone, especially an important role like those two have, it would surely be noticed. The Au they live in will start to panic as they have no idea what happened to them, and that may get Ink or Dream’s attention, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we are their first suspects and come after us. I normally wouldn’t care about that, but with Horror as sick as is, we do not need that kind of attention. It’s too risky.”

“What else can we do, Nightmare?! Horror may be dying and right now we’re doing nothing to help him! I can’t take this anymore! Just listen to him, Nightmare! How can ya stand it? How can ya listen to it and not do anything?! Don’t you care about Horror?!”

Nightmare pushed Dust against the nearest wall, for once not holding him with one of tentacles on his back. His hands gripped Dust’s hoodie tightly at the neck area, preventing him from escaping. Dust grunted at the collision with the wall, but did not fight back.

“**Don’t you _dare_ question my loyalty to Horror**, **Dust**,” Nightmare growled.

Dust lost the glare and looked away, not sure what to say. Killer went over to the two of them and grabbed one of Nightmare’s hands, gently trying to get him to let the other go. He did not focus on Dust as he seemed to have lost whatever had gotten into him.

“Nightmare, let him go,” Killer said gently.

Nightmare kept his glare and his grip, not ready to just get over this. He was sure Dust only said that out of desperation and did not blame him for that, but this gave him a chance to think about something else than Horror’s sickness. It was selfish to take advantage of Dust like that, but Nightmare did not know what to do and let his own frustration over Dust. Killer’s gently grip on him lessened some of that frustration, yet he still did not let go.

“Nightmare, please, let him go,” Killer whispered so only Nightmare and Dust could hear him. “Can’t we solve this somewhere else?”

Nightmare briefly looked over at the only one in the room that had yet not interfered in this. Cross looked like a kid witnessing his parents fighting. He stayed near Horror, secretly wanting to separate Nightmare and Dust but did not know how to do it. Not wanting to make Cross more uncomfortable, Nightmare agreed and finally let Dust go. As the two of them left the room, Killer went back to Cross, telling him to keep an eye socket on Horror. Cross nodded, hoping Killer could solve this disagreement between Nightmare and Dust.

Lucky for Killer he barely needed to say anything before Nightmare and Dust wanted to make amends.

“I’m sorry about that,” Dust sighed. “I just…”

“I know you’re frustrated, Dust. I understand it completely as I am as well,” Nightmare said. “This is not easy for me either. I want to help Horror just as much as you do. But we cannot get reckless. Kidnapping someone is pointless; whoever we abduct may not know what to do and then what can we do with them? Kill them? I’m afraid it would attract too much attention if monsters suddenly disappear.”

“What about a human?” Dust proposed.

“It’s not likely they’d be able to help, no matter where they’re from,” Nightmare said. “And I don’t think many humans would react nicely to a group of skeleton monsters, least of all someone like us.” Pausing for a minute, Nightmare was also getting tired of not doing anything. “But you are right about us not doing anything. Maybe we can help Error find information in other Aus? We may not find anything, but it’s better than doing nothing.”

Killer and Dust nodded, both happy they could do something else than just waiting around.

“Okay, the three of us will search for answers as well. Don’t attract any attention and don’t get in any fights. You’re only mission is to find some clues about what is wrong with Horror and what we can do about it. Understood?”

Both Killer and Dust nodded.

“Good, leave as soon as you’re ready,” Nightmare said, ready to leave when he remembered something. Looking at Dust, he stopped the other from leaving. “We should probably make sure Cross is alright, and inform him of the plan.”

Killer left right away, planning to visit some library while at the same time contacting Color, seeing if he could have any idea what could be wrong. Meanwhile, Nightmare and Dust went back to Horror’s room to ensure Cross everything was fine and about the plan. Cross nodded along, secretly happy the disagreement between Nightmare and Dust was not as serious as he thought it was. Just like last time he was informed to stay with Horror and contact one of them if his condition worsened or if he needed help. Nightmare and Dust left not long after that, both anxious to start their own search for answers.

None of them knew they were running out of time.


	6. Chapter 6

“And you’re sure it’s not food poisoning?”

“Not exactly, but I’ll never heard of them lasting for more than a day.”

Outer nodded. Listening to what Error, Horror and the rest of the gang had been through for over a week was shocking. Outer had tried to be in pain before, but the way Error had described what Horror was having was bone chilling. When he asked what he thought about it, Outer was at a loss. He had never heard anything even close to Horror’s symptoms. He thought more about it. Food poisoning seemed to be the most logical explanation; it was usually the cause of stomach pain in skeleton monsters. Yet it should pass by itself in less than a day. It made no sense that Horror was still in so much pain.

When Error had mentioned the jaundice, Outer almost did not believe him. Skeletons should not be able to get jaundice; it was a disease that changed the victim’s skin color, not something a monster only consisting of bones should be able to suffer from. The jaundice also ruled out food poisoning. But maybe it could still be a poison?

“Could he have been poisoned?” Outer asked.

“I thought about that, but he has no wounds from battles that could indicate poison,” Error answered rather tired. All the worry and research he’d done lately was starting to get to him.

“Well, he can get poisoned other ways,” Outer said. “Maybe he got bitten by a venomous snake? Or he ate something poisonous? Isn’t Horror known to eat pretty much anything food related?”

“Yeah, but as far as I know he’s careful about what he eats. And I don’t think he’ll take the chance of eaten something poisonous.”

“What if he didn’t know it was? There exist a lot of poisonous plants that looks rather harmless… I’m sorry, Error. That’s my best guess.”

“… You know, Outer, you may be right…” Error said while thinking about what Outer had said.

Horror was careful about what he ate, at least now he was. When he joined the gang he did not care as long as it was food. Now he was more careful after an incident where he ate something that made him sick for the rest of the day. If Horror ate something he believed was not harmful, he wouldn’t think twice about eaten it. Thinking about it, Error could kick himself for not asking the gang what Horror had been eaten. He guessed after he excluded food poisoning, he banned poison altogether.

“Outer, you’re a genius,” Error suddenly said. Poison may not be the cause of Horror’s misery, but it was now Error’s best (and only) lead. It would be stupid to ignore it.

“I know,” Outer smiled from his position. “Let me know how it goes.” He added as he saw Error standing up.

Thanking Outer one last time, Error teleported back to the mansion, hoping the gang could remember something Horror had eaten but none of the others had. For all he knew this would be another dead end, but he had to know. Horror was known to try more new things than the others, especially after he got that cooking book.

Arriving back at the hideout, he spotted Nightmare and Killer out front. When they spotted him they looked at him hopeful, telling him they had not found anything useful. Nightmare had searched one library after another, he even visited some hospital in hope of someone suffered from the same symptoms as Horror, but had no such luck. Killer had contacted Color through texting and later phone call, but the rainbow flamed skeleton had no idea what could cause Horror such pain.

“You found something?” Killer asked hopeful yet desperate.

“Maybe,” Error answered. “Outer suspects poison; Horror might have eaten something he did not know was poisonous. Can you recall anything Horror has eaten none of you had?”

Nightmare and Killer both thought about it. Horror ate pretty much anything they had, never been a picky eater. It was hard to determine if they had not eaten something he had, even more so when they couldn’t talk for Dust and Cross. It did not make it any easier that it had to have happened at least nine days ago.

Suddenly Killer’s eye lights flickered a couple of times, something they only did when he was excited. “I don’t know if anyone else tried it, but Horror did try that new chicken recipe he found in his the cookbook,” Killer said. “I can’t remember what else was in it.”

“Can you find that recipe?” Error asked.

Before Killer could answer, an explosion exclaimed at Horror’s room. The three skeletons outside shared a nervous look, thinking first Horror might have lashed out again. Then they all remembered Horror was too weak to do so. That only left Dust and Cross.

They could not afford to waste any time. Deciding to send Error after the book (and promising him Horror only owned one cooking book), Nightmare and Killer hurried to Horror’s room, anxious to know what was happening.

***

Dust returned before Nightmare and Killer thanks to a call from Cross. The X-themed skeleton had panicked throughout the whole phone call to the point Dust could barely understand him, but he could hear Horror’s scream in the background and he did not need to know more. He abandoned his search for answers and returned to the hideout.

Horror seemed to have gained some energy, or he was getting desperate to do something. Whatever the case he was trashing about in bed once again, several times close to falling down from it and would have if it wasn’t for Cross. He was screaming, crying and yelling. He seemed completely out of it and did not notice who was holding him down. He’s yelling made no sense. The few words they could understand made even less sense, given the implication he was hallucinating.

Cross did his best to contain him without hurting him, but it was difficult with Horror’s trashing about. When Dust arrived, Cross looked desperately at him, begging him with his eye lights to do something. Dust’s eye lights fell upon the syringe with the drug Error had given them. It was stronger than the painkiller pills, but could be more dangerous if he got too much. Dust had never used anything like it before and had no idea how much he could give, but Horror’s screaming and Cross’ crying made him take the chance and inject some of the drug in Horror.

At first nothing happened, but Dust was too afraid to give him more and instead helped Cross in holding him down. After a couple of minutes, Horror started to calm down, becoming slightly limp in Dust and Cross’ grasp. When he no longer fought against them, the two skeletons let him go but stayed nearby in case he started up again. Horror did not, just looked up at the ceiling and breathed fast. Neither Dust nor Cross knew if he was there with them in mind, but they were happy he had calmed down.

Cross sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. He was exhausted both physically and mentally. Horror had started trashing about out of nowhere, taken Cross by surprise. He did his best to keep his sick friend calm, as he did not want to disturb the rest of the gang in finding answers. Horror did not react to anything he said, even tried to push him away. Cross started to freak out as no matter what he did, he could not get Horror to stay still and called the first person in his contacts, which happened to be Dust. It was not easy for him to both keep Horror down and call Dust for help. He was not sure he succeeded, but saw it as a victory when Dust showed up.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Cross mumbled and smiled brokenly. “And I’m not even the one in pain.”

“We’re all suffering here,” Dust answered, feeling just as exhausted as Cross looked.

“Horror’s still suffers the most… I have nothing to complain about.”

Cross was really tired. He had not had a full night rest since Horror got sick. Even the few days Horror seemed to be okay the worry that something was still wrong kept him awake most of the nights. He should have listened to that feeling.

“Any new symptoms?”

“I… I’m not sure,” Cross answered and stood up. Everything told him to stay on the floor and rest, but he ignored it. “He felt rather cold before he got restless.” Running a phalange down Horror’s humerus, Cross sighed. “He still feels rather cold.”

“… Cr… oss…?”

Cross widened his eye lights, not believing what he just heard. The voice was so weak, so scared, Cross barely heard it. Yet no matter how out of place it sounded, he would recognize that voice anywhere. Horror was looking at him, really looking at him. He had many times called out to each of the gang, but this is the first time he seems to notice they were actually with him. Horror’s red eye light was really faint, no longer glowing like it usually would. His eye sockets were only half open, but he was focusing and actually seeing the people around him instead of the nightmares he most have had during his sickness.

Cross did not care at that moment, just happy to see Horror was talking to him instead of screaming in pain. Not wanting to scare him or accidentally cause him pain, Cross stayed beside the bedside at Horror’s side, smiling tearful down at him. “Hey, Horror,” he said as reassuring as he could manage. “How’re you feeling?”

It was a stupid question, yet Cross felt the need to ask. He was not sure how much he believed in miracles, but he was ready to pray for one right then and there if it meant Horror would say he was finally feeling better, that this was over.

Horror did not answer, making Cross believe he might have lost focus again. He did not move, but his red eye light scanned the room as much as it could from his position. He was lying on his side, able to see just a little more of the room, including Dust, who stood motionless further from him, as in afraid he would cause him pain if he moved.

Horror shuddered, but not because he was cold. “It… hurts…” he whimpered, looking pleadingly at Cross again. “… Please… make it… stop…”

Cross felt tears in his eye sockets but had to hold them back. He needed to stay strong for Horror, needed to make Horror believe they had everything under control. “It’s gonna be okay, Horror,” he said. “You’re… gonna be fine. I promise.”

Horror shuddered again, starting to cry silently. Closing his eye sockets, he let tears fall down from his skull and land on the bed, slowly soaking it. He whimpered as he opened his eye sockets again, looking back at Cross. “I… I ca… can’t take this… anymore…It hurts…” he gasped. “Please… make it stop… Please…”

“You’re gonna be okay, Horror. I promise we’re doing everything we can to find a cure. Just… just hold on.” Cross could no longer keep his own tears at bay, letting them fall freely.

Horror shook his skull, a sob escaping him. “I… cannot… take this… anymore,” he repeated. “It hurts… so much… Please, just… just kill me… Please…”

Cross broke down beside the bed, grabbing Horror’s hand. “No! No, Horror, please, don’t give up!” he cried. “You can fight this! You’re gonna be okay! Please, don’t give up! Just hold on!”

“It… hurts… Don’t… wanna… be… in pain… anymore… Please… Please, kill… me… It hurts…”

“Hold on, Horror! You’re gonna be okay. Just… Please, you cannot give up! Just hold on a little longer! Please!”

Horror only whimpered again, having lost the strength to continue the conversation. The drug Dust injected him with seemed to affect him now, as he closed his eye sockets and fell asleep. He still whimpered and cried in his sleep, showing even this drug could not help him against the pain.

Cross still held his hand and cried against the bed when Horror fell asleep. Of all the times he had to watch Horror, this had to have been the worst one. He had hoped, if only just for a moment, that when Horror talked, when Horror knew who he was with, everything was finally going to be okay. Instead he finds Horror is ready to give up. He would not let him give up.

Through all of this Dust remained motionless, his expression blank and his eye lights gone, leaving his eye sockets completely black. He still held the syringe that had injected the drug into Horror, the drug that could kill him if he got too much of it. Maybe they could not save Horror? Maybe it was already too late? They did not even know what was wrong with him, how could they help him if they did not know what was wrong? What was worse were the fact of how much Horror was suffering. Horror was one of the strongest monsters Dust had ever met, yet right now he was reduced to tears and begged to be killed. Could they really be so selfish to keep him alive if he could not take it anymore? Losing Horror was the last thing Dust wanted, but he was suffering. He may be dying. If he wanted to give up, should they not let him?

“Dust?”

Cross was really good at reading other people’s expressions, but he had no idea what Dust’s expression said in that moment and that scared him a little.

Dust blinked, letting his eye lights reappear. “Maybe… maybe we should… kill him,” he said with a strained smile.

Cross’ jawbone could have hit the floor. “WHAT?!” he yelled so loud he was afraid he woke Horror up.

“He’s miserable, Cross… He’s suffering…,” Dust said, trying to explain his train of thoughts. “Maybe… maybe it would be for the best.”

“For the best?! Dust, you’re talking about _killing_ Horror! How can that be for the best?!”

“He would no longer be in pain. He would be free.”

“Free?! Dust, have you lost your mind?!”

“He wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. You heard him, Cross; he just wants it to stop. We… we can fulfill his final wish.” Dust said everything with no emotion, unblinking, like someone else was answering through him.

Cross shook his skull. “We can’t give up,” he mumbled, looking down at the floor. “We… He’s gonna be okay.”

“How can we help him when we don’t know what’s wrong with him? It would be for the best. He doesn’t have to suffer anymore.”

Cross shook his skull again, yet did not answer. Keeping his gaze on the floor, he tried to make sense of what Dust was thinking about. Letting Horror die was not the answer. They still had time. They could not give up. He heard Dust walk closer to them, more accurate to Horror, with the syringe still holding the drug in his hand. Cross knew what that meant, and he was not going to just stand there and let it happen.

Dust only stepped two steps closer to Horror when he felt a giant knife pointing at his cervical vertebra. Cross looked at him with such hate it took him by surprise; he had never seen Cross look like that. The X-themed skeleton’s eye lights were at the moment both red instead of the usual red and white. He was no longer crying, yet you could still see the tearstains running down from his eye sockets. Right now he did not care about them. He was too determined to keep Dust away from Horror, no matter what.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!” he growled, one last warning for Dust to back down.

His warning did make Dust hesitate. Not only had he never heard Cross talk like that, he was cursing at him. Despite what everyone thought, Nightmare and the gang did not curse that often. Cross was the one who cursed the least, never being one to like it. That did not mean he had never done it before, but it was rare enough the others would always pause up if he did. Despite all that it did not affect Dust. He knew this was for the best. He no longer wanted Horror to suffer. And if he had to fight Cross to do it, then so be it.

Cross knew he was going to fight the dust covered skeleton when his left eye flared a purple flame. It did not scare him, as he had seen it many times before. The two of them had trained together, had even fought because a prank one of them made went too far, but never like this. This time no one was there to stop them. This time it may be a fight to the death if one of them did not back down.

Not wanting to hurt Cross more than he had to, Dust summoned a range of bones around the other, trapping him momentarily. Dust hoped that would give him enough time to inject the rest of the drug in Horror. He wanted his death to be as merciful as possible; he would not attack Horror unless he had no other choice. Dust’s attack was not strong enough to kill Horror with one attack. If he attacked he was afraid Horror would wake up despite the drug’s affect on him, his attacks would only add to the pain he was already in. The drug would let him sleep in, he would not feel a thing that way, and that was what Dust hoped to do.

Cross would not be stopped that easily. With the huge knife he had threatened Dust with, he cut the bones down in size enough for him to walk over them. He grabbed Dust by the hood and yanked him back, resulting in Dust’s hood fallen down from his skull. Dust yelped, having not heard Cross gotten loose but should have expected it. Bringing the hood back over his skull, he looked up in time to see a wave of knives around Cross. He did not send them to attack, however.

“I don’t wanna fight you, Dust,” Cross said with a softer tone than before. “But I will if I have to.”

“I’m only trying to help him, Cross. You have to understand that,” Dust answered.

“Help him?! How is killing him helping him?!” Cross yelled and got a dangerous theory. “Are you just trying to gain more LV? Do you just wanna sacrifice Horror to become stronger?!”

The accusation hurt Dust more than any wound ever could. He had not been thinking about gaining LV since he got his sanity back, since he stopped seeing his brother’s phantom. Horror was his friend, he would never sacrifice him, but could he really blame Cross for thinking that?

“I just wanna help him,” Dust said emotionless.

“NO! YOU’RE TRYING TO KILL HIM!”

Cross send the knives after Dust, not giving the other a chance to respond. Dust dodged the knives as best as he could, but one succeeded in hitting him, ruining his hoodie and hit his bone. Dust paid it no mind. Letting the purple flame from his left eye shine brighter, he answered Cross’ attack with a wave of sharp bone attacks. Cross barely moved as he sliced the bones in half before they could hit him. He growled again, running over to Dust and started slicing after him with the knife, knowing Dust preferred to fight at a distance.

Dust dodged the knife. While he did prefer to fight at a distance it did not mean he could not fight at close range. Summoning a sharp bone again, he let it clash against Cross’ knife like a sword, the two weapons clinking together. They pushed with all their might, trying to get the other to surrender. Cross send smaller knives after Dust, forcing the other to step back in order to defend himself.

They continued like that for several minutes. Because none of them had gotten little to no rest ever since Horror got sick, they did not have much energy to fight. The fact that they were fighting one of their own did not help. Cross’ angry expression started to become more sad the longer the fight went on, having never expected something like this would happen. He would shed a tear from time to time, but could not let him be distracted. He had to defend Horror. He would not give up.

Dust too did not like this fight, but he still thought it was for the best. Horror was suffering, he could end that suffering. But he was running out of energy; if he wanted this done, he had to hurt Cross enough for the other to stay down. Summoning a Gaster Blaster, he got ready to attack Cross what he hoped was the final time.

Dust’s Gaster Blaster looked confused when it saw it was Cross it was aiming at. It whined slightly, wanting to understand what was happening, but was ignored by both Cross and its master. No matter if the Gaster Blaster wanted to hurt Cross or not, it could not reject its master’s order and fired after Cross. The attack missed him just barely and hit the only window in the room instead, creation a huge explosion and, without anyone in the room knowing, three other skeletons’ attention.

Cross coughed at the dust spread around the room because of the explosion. Panting he stood up with the knife still in his hand. He wanted this to end. Raising his knife above his head, he ran over to attack Dust yet again. Dust saw him coming and got ready to defend himself by summoning several bones around him, about to send them after Cross to distract him from his attack.

Neither of them ended up attacking the other. A black tentacle captured each of them, forcing them to abandon their attack. They both struggle in the hold, not knowing where it came from or who was behind it during their rage.

“What is going on in here?!” Nightmare yelled at the entrance, Killer and Error right behind him. When he got no answer except the struggle, Nightmare squeezed his hold on them, trying to get them to stop.

Cross broke down again, the reality of what had happened was too much for him. He sunk his skull and started crying, becoming limp in Nightmare’s hold. Dust took a little longer to stop struggling, but once he heard Cross break down, he too realized what he had nearly done. Tears filled his eye sockets as he looked away, too ashamed to look at them.

Nightmare lessened his hold on them, but did not let them go. In the state they both were in he was not afraid they would attack each other again, but fall to the ground. He noticed Killer hurry over to Cross, letting him go right before he reached him. Cross held onto Killer for dear life, too distraught to say what had happened. Killer wrapped his arms around him and tried to calm him down. He could find out what had caused the fight later.

Nightmare walked over to Dust, trying to get eye contact with him but the other kept his gaze away. He released his hold on Dust, but kept the tentacle support him from behind just in case. Dust did not seem to notice, just kept his gaze away from him.

“Dust?” Nightmare tried to get his attention, now talking more soothing than angry. “Hey, it’s okay.”

Dust shook his skull, finally looking at Nightmare. “N-n-no its no-o-o-t,” he cried. “I’m so sorry.”

Before Nightmare could ask what he meant by that, Dust was gone, teleported away. Nightmare sighed, deciding not to go after Dust for now. Whatever had happened had shaken them both, and Nightmare suspected Dust wanted to be alone. That only left Cross to give them the answers, but by the sound of it, it would take awhile before he was ready for that. Instead Nightmare walked over to Horror, who seemed to have slept through it all.

Error was already there, having a phalange on his humerus. “He’s cold,” he said while frowning. “Are they okay?” he added when he noticed Nightmare.

Nightmare shrugged. “No idea, and I don’t think we’re gonna find out at the moment,” he said, sparring a look over at Killer and Cross. “You found the book?”

Error nodded, pulling the cooking book out from his hoodie. “I can start looking through it and find that recipe.” He looked worryingly at Cross. “Unless you need me here?”

“No, I think we got it under control,” Nightmare said. “Whatever took place here happened most likely thanks to Horror’s disease. The sooner we find answers the better.”

Error nodded. “Call me if you need me.”

With Error gone Nightmare went over to Killer and Cross. Cross still seemed pretty shaken up, but had calmed down enough to not wail anymore. He was still hidden in Killer’s hoodie, being comforted by the other. On his way over to them Nightmare find a syringe on the ground, with some of the drug missing. Seeing as Horror had slept through the whole fight, it was not hard for him to figure out where the missing drug were, indicating Horror had trashed about again while they were gone. That would explain why Dust had returned sooner than them, but not what made him and Cross attack each other.

Nightmare sighed again. The hideout had been filled with negative emotions ever since Horror got sick. It did make Nightmare stronger, these were very strong emotions coming from such few monsters, yet he did not feel powerful at all. He felt rather weak, as he could not do anything to help Horror, nor the others. It was hard to hold a strong façade around them, hard to look like he knew what he was doing, when he had no idea at all. He depended completely on Error right now, and he hated that feeling. He trusted Error with his life, yet he still hated being so depending on him. He did not want the Destroyer to think he was just being used. Did he? Nightmare hoped not, and seeing Error had done so much to try and find answers also told Nightmare how much they meant to the Destroyer, not that he thought he would admit it. A feeling Nightmare understood all too well. It was sometimes scary to think about how much he and Error had in common.

The negative feelings were especially strong now. Horror was in pain, Killer felt hopeless, Cross was a mess and Dust was miserable wherever he had run off to. Nightmare was not sure how he felt, but it could not be far from what the gang felt. Error was the only one that felt somehow hopeful, maybe because he had a lead. That positive feeling had affected Nightmare when he showed up earlier. Positive emotions were not something Nightmare always liked, considering they made him weaker, yet he welcomed them more than he ever had when he felt them from Error at that moment. It could mean Error had found something, maybe a way to heal Horror. That had not been the case much to Nightmare’s disappointment, but he had a new idea to what could be the cause. Nightmare hoped whatever Error had in mind it turned out to be correct. Whatever Horror was suffering from had made two of his gang members attack each other; this needed to stop.

Cross had calmed down at that point. He wanted to rest so badly, but now he was afraid that if he did, Dust might come back and kill Horror. That was a thought he never imagined he would have.

“Cross, what happened?” Killer asked the questing that had been on his mind since the explosion.

Cross felt tears in his eye sockets again, but refused to let them fall. He was getting tired of crying all the time. “H-h-he… I-I-I don’t know what he was thinking. I-i-it made no sense. How could he?” Cross stuttered through his sentence, ending with a question he hoped Killer could answer.

“Cross, you need to start at the beginning, okay?” Killer said, still patting him to help him keep calm.

“Horror… Horror was out of control. I couldn’t get him to calm down. He didn’t even recognize me,” Cross started, this time without stuttering. “I… I called Dust, and he gave him that drug Error had provided. Horror calmed down, but it didn’t knock him out right away. He… He…” Cross could not hold the tears back anymore.

Killer wiped them away with a patient smile. “It’s okay, Cross. Take your time.”

“He _begged_ us to kill him!” Cross exclaimed, hid his skull in Killer’s hoodie yet again.

Nightmare and Killer shared a nervous look. None of them had expected that.

“H-h-h-he wanted to… to give up. He sa-a-aid he couldn’t… that he couldn’t take the pain any-anymore,” Cross continued, now muffled by Killer’s hoodie. “I… I told him… to hold on. That… that he would be okay. But… Dust…”

Cross cut himself off, the memories of what he had just been through still fresh in his mind. He did not finish his tale, and he did not need to. Both Nightmare and Killer had a good guess to as what Dust had tried to do, and that Cross had tried to stop him, resulting in the fight. They did not know what to feel about it. Could they be angry at Dust for trying to kill Horror? Horror had begged for it. That most had been horrible to witness.

Cross fell asleep in Killer’s arms, his exhausting finally caught up to him. They decided to lay him next to Horror, hoping it could bring them both comfort in their sleep. Nightmare and Killer knew Cross would have a panic attack if he woke up and Horror was not with him, afraid Horror had been killed while he was asleep.

Killer sighed as he leaned against the wall. “This is a mess,” he mumbled.

“It is,” Nightmare agreed. “You should get some rest as well, Killer. It’s been a long week.” He added when he noticed the other’s exhausting.

Killer smiled while closing his eye sockets. “You can say that again,” he said. “I can handle it. Besides, what about Dust? Shouldn’t one of us look for him?”

“I think it’s best we leave him alone for now,” Nightmare said. “I’ll look for him if he’s not back within an hour.”

“Okay…”

Killer could not understand it, he was getting really tired all of a sudden. He had been tired a lot since Horror got sick, but it had never hit him as much as it did now. He had been fine a moment ago. Opening one of his eye sockets, he glared weakly at Nightmare. “You’ve hit me with sleeping magic, haven’t you?” he mumbled.

Nightmare just smiled. “You know me too well.”

“I hate it when you do that.”

Killer fell asleep not long after that, still learning against the wall. Nightmare had expected him to fall over when he fell asleep and had been ready to catch him, but to his surprise Killer was standing fast asleep up against the wall. Nightmare considered to just leave him there, but did worry he would fall during the night. He would also be more comfortable lying, or at least sitting, down. There was not room enough for another skeleton on the bed, not unless he squeezed the three of them together. He could not risk that in case Horror got another episode. Instead he placed Killer in a chair; not as comfortable as a bed, but it was either that or the floor if he wanted to stay. And Nightmare knew Killer wanted that.

Nightmare took a moment to look at the three of them. Killer and Cross slept peacefully, Horror not so much. He would mumble and groan from time to time, but it was nothing compared to his screams when he was awake. He suddenly whined in his sleep, resulting Cross to subconsciously reach out and hold onto him. Even in his sleep Cross was careful with his movements. Horror seemed to relax a little at Cross’ presence; he would still groan at the pain he was in, but not as much.

Nightmare smiled at the three of them. They were a strange little family, though at least one skeleton was missing from this picture. Nightmare sighed as he once again noticed the damaged wall; Dust’s Gaster Blaster had made a good job in damaging the wall, though it was nothing Nightmare could not fix. Silently he started repairing the wall, being careful to be quiet and not disturb the three sleeping skeletons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of this chapter. Honestly I'm not sure if Chara is sharing a body with Cross in this or not. I know Cross only has a red eye light because of Chara, but I'm not sure if I see Chara is present.
> 
> Outer had a short appearence here, but I haven't tagged him because he's mostly just mentioned in the story and does not have that big od a role.
> 
> Also, I don't make the gang curse that much because I don't curse that much.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some mentions from an earlier story in the series: "Killer's leaving the gang" It is not required to read that story to understand this, but it will make more sense.

Nightmare awoke feeling rather confused. He was on the ground, which was weird by itself. Next thing were that he was not in his room, and he was not alone. Blinking his blue eye to get it to focus, he saw Killer and Cross still fast asleep, but Horror was awake, trying very hard not to make too much noise. Cursing himself for falling asleep, Nightmare stood up and went over to Horror’s side.

“Horror?” he asked, hoping for some reaction from the bloodied skeleton.

Horror slightly jumped at the mention of his name, not having noticed anyone else awake. He blinked a couple of times before turning his head, seeing Nightmare beside him. He groaned again and shut his eye socket, trying not to make too much noise.

Nightmare grabbed a water bottle from the nightstand. Carefully he helped Horror in a sitting position and helped him drink the water, sure the other must be thirsty for all the screaming he had done the past few days. When there was no more water in the bottle Nightmare helped Horror back down in bed. Horror shuddered and curled in on himself, keeping his eye sockets closed. Nightmare sat the bottle back down on the desk and took the syringe with the drug. He considered giving it to Horror, seeing the other was still clearly in pain. He was however happy about Horror was trying to be quiet about it; it showed he was aware of the others’ presence.

Looking at the time Nightmare discovered it would not harm giving Horror more of the drug, as it had been several hours since Dust gave him an injection. Speaking of Dust, Nightmare could not sense his presence in the mansion, meaning the dust covered skeleton had not returned after the incident yesterday. Nightmare was never going to forgive himself for falling asleep. He needed to find him.

Nightmare could not leave Horror alone though. Well, he wasn’t alone as Killer and Cross were literally right next to him, but fast asleep. Nightmare did not want to wake them as they both needed to rest as much as possible. Making a decision, Nightmare injected some of the drug in Horror, being careful not to give him too much. Horror yelped when the needle was plunged into his bone, but otherwise did not react. Nightmare looked apologetic down at him and waited until the drug took effect. It took some time, but Horror eventually fell back to sleep.

Smiling one last time at his sleeping gang, Nightmare left the room, determined to find Dust. Locating Dust was not that hard when you are capable of sensing negative emotions, it was also easier now that the rest of the gang were fast asleep. He could still sense the pain coming from Horror, but the further he went into the forest, the weaker that sense felt, until another negative feeling overshadowed it completely.

Nightmare found Dust under a tree, back against it and skull hidden between his legs. By the leaves lying on top of him, he had been in that position for a while. Nightmare thought for a moment Dust was sleeping, but slight movement when he got closer told him differently. Dust could feel the cold aura that came with being around Nightmare, something he could not ignore if he had been away from it for awhile. None of the gang members minded that aura anymore. It had become a part of their everyday life to the point where they felt comfort about it, because it reminded them of Nightmare.

Other then the slight movement, Dust did not move. Nightmare sighed quietly, wondering how he was supposed to handle this. Despite what Dust might think, he was not mad at him.

“Dust?”

Dust did not move, did not even acknowledge he had heard Nightmare. Sighing again, Nightmare walked closer to Dust and sat down across from him. He slowly made one of his tentacles from his back stretch out and rest down on Dust’s shoulder, letting it stay there for a moment like a reassuring hand. He heard Dust sniffle, but still did not look up. The tentacle moved on top of his skull next, slowly gliding down the skull and back down to the shoulder, then all the way down his arm. He repeated this action several times.

Dust tried not to react to it, he really did, but a small chuckle escaped his mouth. He groaned at his ‘weakness’ and hid his skull embarrassed deeper between his legs. Nightmare smiled while he kept the tentacle repeat the action, knowing full well what effect it had on Dust. It was a comfort gesture, meant to help calm the other down, but it was also a teasing gesture. Everyone in the gang knew to Dust being ticklish, no matter how much the dust covered skeleton tried to deny it. It was the number one punishment Killer and Horror used on him after a one of his pranks.

Right now Nightmare used it as a way to tell Dust he was not mad, as he would never tickle any of them if he were. It would also help Dust relax and not think too much about what he almost did. They still needed to talk.

Nightmare stopped the teasing/comforting gesture and instead made the tentacle grab Dust’s jawbone, gently forcing the other to lift his skull. Dust wanted to fight against it, yet he did not. Letting his skull being lifted from its hiding place, Nightmare now saw how much Dust regretted what he did. His whole expression was one of pure regret; he was crying, and by the tearstains going down from his eye sockets he had been during that the whole night. He looked tired like the rest of them, and Nightmare doubted Dust had slept at all while being alone out here.

“It’s okay, Dust,” Nightmare whispered.

Dust shook his skull. “No, it’s not,” he mumbled, wanting to hide his skull again but the tentacle was still holding it. “I… I almost…”

“I know, but you didn’t.”

“I didn’t because Cross stopped me,” Dust said, disgusted at his own actions. “I would’ve killed him, Nightmare! I would have killed Horror! I… If Cross hadn’t been there… If he… if he agreed with me, Horror would’ve been…”

“But he was, and he stopped you. And now you regret it, that’s all that matters. Dust, you weren’t thinking straight. I don’t blame you for those thoughts. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to hear Horror beg you guys to kill him.”

Dust gasped, seeing that memory appear in his mind. “He sounded so desperate,” he mumbled. “He sounded in so much pain… I… I did not want him like that anymore… I just… just wanted the pain to stop. For all of us…”

“We don’t blame you for that.”

“You should. I almost killed him… I almost killed him.”

More tears appeared. Instead of letting the tentacle brush them away, Nightmare leaned closer and removed them with his hand. “It’s okay, Dust.”

“I’ve never seen Cross like that,” Dust continued. “He literally pulled a knife on me. He actually threatened me. He looked so mad… Even those few times I’ve taken a prank too far, I’ve never seen him like that. You should’ve seen the way he looked at me, Nightmare. There’s no doubt in my mind; he woulda beaten me beyond recognizing if I got any closer to Horror with that syringe… And I ignored that warning completely. If you haven’t stopped us… I think we woulda killed each other.”

“Stop right there, Dust,” Nightmare said. “That’s a lie and you know it. You may not have been thinking straight, but I know you woulda stopped the attacks if you hurt Cross. You’re not like that.”

Dust chuckled. Nightmare had not heard him chuckled like that since Dust still believed his brother was following him. It was a little unnerving, and really worrying.

“I don’t think I would,” Dust finally said, a strained smile on his face. “I killed one family. I might as well kill another.”

“Dust, no, I’m not letting you go down that path again.”

“Why not? It’s where I belong.”

“It’s not,” Nightmare insisted, looking Dust straight in the eye lights. “You made a mistake, you just wanted it all to end, none of us can blame you for that… I’m afraid if we don’t get answers soon… we have to take Horror out of his misery…” It was hard to admit, but Nightmare knew it may come to that. And they all needed to be ready if that happened. “But we can’t lose… hope, not yet.”

Dust did not answer. He no longer smiled. Nightmare could only guess what he was thinking about.

Nightmare did not like it, but it seemed like he needed to bring back some of his own mistakes. “Hey, remember when I almost murdered Killer?” he asked. “I would have if not for his relationship with Color.”

Dust nodded, not sure where this was leading.

“It was also my fault you got hurt that day… You blamed me a lot when you woke up. Heh, from what I could gather from Error, you were ready to kill me. And you know what? I would not have stopped you,” Nightmare admitted. Knowing he had Dust’s full attention, he continued. “And I’m sure that would have happened if I had actually killed Killer… But he came back. And we worked through it all… What I’m trying to say is we all made mistakes, and we’re lucky enough to get a chance to fix them. You did try to kill Horror, not because you wanted to, but because you wanted to help him, because he _asked_ you to. We can’t blame you for that.”

“… Cross is never gonna forgive me,” Dust mumbled.

That thought had crossed Nightmare’s mind. If he had to be honest he was sure Cross never would forgive him if Horror dies. Nightmare needed to make sure that will not happen. Dust and Cross’ relationship was cracked and he hoped it could be fixed. He also knew it was something they needed to figure out for themselves.

“He will,” Nightmare hoped that was a promise he could keep. It was silent between them for a moment. “Let’s head back,” Nightmare said. “The others should wake up soon… and you should get some rest. You look like a mess, Dust.”

“… I feel like one too,” Dust murmured, but stood up nevertheless.

Nightmare could only sigh. He had hoped he could get Dust to understand his own actions, and while he may have made it clearer, Dust was still miserable about it. When it came down to it Nightmare could not blame him, but he hated seeing Dust (or anyone else from the gang) as broken as he was right now.

Nightmare hoped Horror would get better soon; if not, he was afraid this would be the end of the gang. Dust did not need his forgiveness, he needed Cross’ and Horror’s, and he would not get either until Horror felt better. If he ever would.

***

The walk back to Horror’s room was completely silent. Dust kept his gaze towards the ground and if Nightmare did not look back to make sure he was following, he was sure Dust would have sneaked away at some point. His eye sockets were only half open, indicating he was either disgusted with himself about what he almost did or he was really tired. Nightmare guessed it was a mixture of both. He would have to give the dust covered skeleton some sleeping magic when they got back. The next thing he needed to figure out was where to put him. He could not risk leaving Dust alone, but he was not sure how Cross would react to seeing Dust again. Nightmare hoped the gang members that remained at the mansion were still fast asleep, that would make getting Dust in there a lot easier.

Nightmare was lucky. When he and Dust came back into the room, only Killer had woken up. What was even better were that Error was there as well, looking through some book Nightmare did not recognize. He guided Dust over to a corner and made him sit down. When he was sure Dust would stay put, he went over to the other two skeletons. Killer looked like he wanted to check up on Dust, but a look from Nightmare made him stay. Nightmare looked down at the Destroyer, who had not raised his skull from the book.

“You found something?” he asked.

“Not so far,” Error answered, not looking up. “I found the recipe Horror used and as far as I can see, nothing in that dish was poisonous. I started to think maybe the chicken was bad, but then it would’ve been food poisoning and should’ve been over by now. Then I saw the dish required straw mushrooms. I don’t really know that much about mushrooms, but I do know some of them are poisonous.” He showed the cover of the book he was reading, which had a picture of a land with mushrooms on the front. “I’m trying to find this straw mushroom and see if it’s one of them.”

Nightmare nodded, pleased to know Error did not come back empty handed. At least not yet. He would only know once Error found that mushroom in the book. He went over to Killer next, who was still sitting in the chair he had left him in the night before.

“Is he alright?” Killer asked, referring to Dust.

“I’ve done what I can,” Nightmare sighed. “I’m afraid only Cross and Horror can do the rest.”

Killer nodded, not liking the sound of that but knew it to be true. Dust kept his place in the corner, sitting in the same position Nightmare found him: sitting against something with his skull hiding between his legs. He was not crying, at least not out loud, but you did not need to be able to sense negative emotions to know he was miserable. Nightmare was on his way over to the dust covered skeleton to use some sleeping magic on him, knowing he needed to get some rest, when a sigh from Error caught his attention.

“The straw mushroom is not poisonous,” Error said, finally looking up from the book.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Nightmare sighed. “Are you sure there’s not some other way it could affect him?”

“Positive. The straw mushroom is harmless,” Error said, looking back down at the book. “They are usually used in Asian recipes and according to this book; peeled straw mushrooms are good in soups.”

“Fascinating,” Nightmare said in a tone that indicated it was not. “What now?”

No one answered. Error was still reading about the mushroom for whatever reason, and Nightmare did not have it in him to get the Destroyer to focus. Was that their last hope? Was there no way for them to find out what was wrong with Horror? Could they do nothing than watch him suffer now? Nightmare could not heal something like this, but he had never wished that he could more in that moment. He could only heal wounds, but this was not a wound he could just heal.

“Did any of you see the mushroom Horror used?” Error asked. “There is a chance he mistook it for something else.”

“I did.”

The three skeletons looked over at the skeleton still sitting in the corner. Dust had raised his skull and still looked rather tired, but not enough to not having heard the conversation taken place.

“Or, I didn’t see it exactly as I was really tired, but…”

That sentence killed the hope in Nightmare and Killer, but not for Error. The Destroyer went over to Dust. “Can you remember what Au he found it in?” he asked. “Better yet, can you remember where he found it?”

“I don’t know exactly where he found it, but I know the forest he found it in.”

“Good enough.”

Nightmare was not so sure about letting Dust go when he was as exhausted as he was, but he also knew how urgent this was, so he did not say anything as Dust rose from his sitting position and went with Error to wherever Horror had found that mushroom. Nightmare hoped they could finally find the answers they had been looking for.

***

Dust and Error arrived at the forest in the Au Horror found the mushroom over a week ago. To Dust it felt like a lot longer. The forest seemed darker somehow; despite they were there in sunlight instead of close to dark when he and Horror had been there. That evening had been a good memory; it seemed so far away now. It seemed like a dream.

Dust and Error decided to split up to cover more ground. In a way to cover even more ground a lot faster, Dust summoned some Gaster Blasters and told them to help with the search. After the tenth one was summoned, Error asked Dust to stop, as he noticed the dust covered skeleton was about to pass out after the tenth one, making the Gaster Blasters close to disappear as well. Blinking a couple of times after being disturbed, Dust apologized and started the search. Error made a mental note to keep an eye socket on him, just in case. He knew he could not send Dust home, as the other most likely would not listen to him. Besides, having him here along with the Gaster Blasters would get the job done a lot faster.

Neither of them knew how long they searched, but suddenly they heard one of the tenth Gaster Blasters squeal near a tree. It flooded in circles while making the sound, getting the attention of the other Blasters and Error and Dust. Gently pushing the Blasters away, Error squatted down next to the tree, seeing a couple of mushrooms growing there. Dust stood not far away, praising the Gaster Blasters before making them disappear one by one.

Error plucked one of the mushrooms from the ground and turned it over in his hand, studying it. “This is not a straw mushroom,” he said while frowning. “At least, I don’t think it is.”

Handing Dust the mushroom without any warning, Error brought the book he had been looking in earlier from his hoodie and found the page about the mushroom. Scanning the page for the mushroom’s description and the picture in the book, Error could say with confidence the mushroom they had found was not the same from the book. But they were very similar.

Dust looked at the picture of the mushroom over Error’s shoulder. At first glance he did not see any difference between the mushroom in his hand and the one in the book, maybe except for some of the colors. Dust was not any expert with it came to mushrooms, so maybe that was part of the problem.

“So what now?” Dust asked.

Error reached out for the mushroom, which Dust handed him without complain. Turning the mushroom around in his hand again, Error studied as much about the mushroom’s appearance as he could see.

“I need to find out what exactly this mushroom is called,” Error answered. “It may be what is making Horror sick. You should go back to the mansion, tell them about this and that I’ll return as soon as possible.”

Splitting up, Dust returned to the hideout, ready to deliver the message from Error. He had not expected things to be the way they were when he returned. Everyone was awake now, including Horror. The blood covered skeleton was trashing about again, even more violent than he had done before. Nightmare and Cross was holding him down, while Killer tried to comfort him. What was even more different about this time was the lack of scream; Horror was grunting in pain, but not very loud. His body was shaken violently, yet he did not seem to be aware of it. His eye sockets were completely shut and he breathed in shallow breaths.

Dust did not know what to do and decided not to interfere, trusting the others had it under control. Just as soon as it started it stopped. Horror calmed down and no longer shook violently, instead he did something he had not done for a long time; he lay completely still and did not make any sound. There was no whimpering, no groaning, nothing. The silence was even scarier than the screaming had been.

The silence stretched on, no one knowing what to do. Horror remained motionless, and no one knew if that was a good sign, if it meant he was finally getting better or if it meant it was over and Horror had given up.

The tension only increased when they saw Dust at the other side of the room. Nightmare could see Cross tense up when he spotted the dust covered skeleton, but was happy he did not react in any other way. He had been afraid Cross would attack or scream at Dust when he saw him. He did notice Cross took a step closer to the bed Horror was laying on, keeping his gaze towards Dust but at the same time not looking at him, rather the ground right before him. Dust, in return, tried not to look at Cross, still too ashamed of what had happened between them.

In an attempt to cut the tension Nightmare stepped closer to Dust, gaining both his and Cross’ attention. “Where’s Error?” he asked.

“Um, we found a mushroom in the forest and Error believes it is not the kind Horror expected it to be,” Dust said. “He’s trying to find out what exactly the mushroom is and will be back later.”

Nightmare nodded and felt a slight irritation inside, as that meant they yet again could only wait. The tension between Dust and Cross did not make it any easier, but at least the two of them tried not to do anything and just made sure to not look at each other. Nightmare was also glad that Dust stayed, hoping that could prove to Cross he did hope for Horror to get better. There was also the possibility Cross would see it as a way for Dust to try and kill Horror again, but he doubted that was the case, as Cross would then most likely attack Dust or scream at him to leave. For now it was important those two were not left alone, and that Dust was not left alone with Horror for Cross’ sanity.


	8. Chapter 8

Error returned early the next day, which Nightmare was not very happy about and was ready to tell Error as much the moment he saw him, but the other’s expression held him back. Error’s expression was not easy to read, but it was not a happy one, making Nightmare fear they might have hit another dead end.

“I do not like that expression,” Nightmare said, making all the others notice Error at the entrance.

Error sighed and his expression only turned sourer as he noticed Horror’s motionless form on the bed. “I think I know what’s wrong with him,” he said to everyone’s excitement. “Horror has mistaken a death cap for a straw mushroom.”

“Death cap?” Killer repeated, sharing a worried look with Nightmare. Anything with the word ‘death’ in it could not be good, especially not in a food item.

“The death cap is a highly toxic mushroom that looks almost identical to the straw mushroom,” Error explained. “Symptoms include severe stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, intense thirst, jaundice, coldness of the skin and lose of strength. Not all symptoms may surface and may not appear at the same time. The symptoms can appear already six hours after the mushroom had been consumed and have a ‘recovery’ phase of a couple of days before the symptoms reappear… Sounds familiar?” Error did not give them a chance to answer. “There’s no doubt in my mind Horror had accidently mistook the death cap for a straw mushroom.”

“Is there a cure?” Nightmare asked. He was glad they finally knew what the cause of Horror’s pain was, but he honestly did not care as long as he could become healthy again.

“I… I dunno,” Error answered honestly. “Those were symptoms humans would experience, I’ve never heard of a monster suffering from these. The death cap attacks the liver, which does not affect Horror as he has no liver… but he shouldn’t be able to get jaundice either… Unless…”

“Unless…?” Killer repeated.

“It’s attacking his magic, maybe even his soul,” Error finished.

Magic was important for all monsters, especially skeleton monsters. Without magic they would literally fall apart, as bones could not stay together without having anything to support it. Monsters are made up of magic, but many of them have similar organs to humans. Skeleton monsters do not have any organs or skin, yet they can still bleed if their bones are cut and feel the wind from a breeze thanks to magic. Because skeleton monsters do not have any organs their magic take that role, which mean if they get sick in some way that would affect an organ, it would affect their magic, attacking the magic. Magic is very powerful and will in most cases heal the monster’s body without any assistance, just like a human’s immune system. If the monster got a serious disease the magic cannot heal by its own, the monster would feel the symptoms of said disease until the body breaks down, killing the monster, or they see some kind of healer. Sometimes human medicine can help the monsters as well, but not many know this thanks to many Au’s has monster kind trapped underground.

“No medicine can help him through this,” Error continued, frowning as he looked over at Horror again. “How long has he been like that?”

“Since Dust returned,” Killer answered.

Error walked over to Horror and shook him gently. Getting no reaction, Error sighed again. “He’s in a coma,” he said sadly. “It’s one of the last symptoms before he… dies… He’s HP is already going down.”

Error could have dropped a bomb on them and that would have been less painful. Everyone was silent, no one daring to move as if that would make the statement happen. They could not even breathe. One by one they all made a CHECK on Horror and discovered his HP were indeed going down. So far he had not even lost a quarter of his originally HP, but they all widened their eye lights as they witnessed one HP go down without anyone attacking him. Horror was truly dying now, and they could do nothing about it.

Cross was the first to react, breaking down where he had been standing. Still no one moved, knowing there was nothing they could say to comfort him. Dust looked away from them all, thinking maybe he should have fought Cross harder during his attempt to release Horror from his pain; had they made him suffer for nothing? Dust shook his head, not wanting to get those thoughts back. Killer looked up while resting both his hands on top of skull and started pacing, trying to make sense of it all.

Nightmare stood completely still, not knowing how to react. “There’s nothing we can do?” he asked unbelievable. This could not be how it ended.

“Well, there’s one thing we can try,” Error said, looking at Nightmare. “Or that _you_ can try.”

“Me?”

“You’re capable of healing, right? Have you ever heard of cleaning the magic?”

Nightmare widened his one blue eye light. “Cleaning the magic?” he repeated. “Sure I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never done anything close to that. Error, that’s a whole different kind of healing. Only the best can do that… I don’t even think my brother has ever done that… How can I?”

“I know it won’t be easy, but it’s the only thing that can safe him at this point.”

“Can’t we find someone else who can do it? Someone who had done it before? It’s too risky for me to try.”

“Nightmare, as you just said, not many are capable of doing that kind of healing. It will take us forever to find someone that can. By the time we find someone, Horror could be dead. He doesn’t have much time.”

“But-.”

“Nightmare,” Error interrupted by grabbing his shoulders. “I know it’s risky, I know you’ve never done anything close to this before, but it’s our only hope. Horror’s in a coma now, Nightmare, his last and final symptom is death. We don’t have much time. You’re the only one who can do this.” He smiled reassuring. “I know you’re scared of the outcome. I know you’re scared of making a mistake and not save him, but if we do nothing, he _will_ die. I believe you can do it.”

Nightmare was not so sure he could. He sometimes had troubles healing normal wounds. Cleaning the magic of another monster is on a whole other level. He’d never needed to do it, heck he’s sure even Dream never had to do it. It is very rare for anyone needing to clean their magic, as the magic can usually heal itself. This poison was destroying Horror, destroying his magic too fast for it to do anything about it. If they did not do anything soon, Horror would die.

But cleaning the magic takes a lot out of anyone who tries to do it. Even worse were if they did not succeeds, the monster they tried to clean the magic of is sure to be a goner, even if they had hope left before. Their magic can mistake it for another danger and would try to fight it, spending the last energy it had left, unintentionally letting the real danger take over. Depending on the disease it could also damage the healer, as the damage could spread to them, but it was very rare for that to happen.

Could Nightmare really deny trying? No, he could not. He was not afraid of getting this poison in his system; it could not harm him thanks to once being a Guardian. It could hurt him trying to clean the magic, but it could not infect him. Another reason he could not deny trying was because this was their last hope. Horror would die no matter if he tried or not. Nightmare would never forgive himself if he just let Horror die, especially not with the knowledge that he could have prevented it.

“Okay, I’ll try,” Nightmare said, making the others cheer. “But just so you’re all aware, I’ll probably pass out at the end of this.”

Nightmare walked over to the bed and sat down, facing Horror. He could feel all eyes on him as he started to prepare himself mentality for the task at hand. He still felt exhausted from all the worry and confusing he had felt for over a week, but also knew he was not going to be more prepared even if he rested for a while. He needed to do this, and he needed to do it now. He had no idea how long Horror could hold on, and he was not about to take any chances.

He did need to warn the gang before he could start. “No matter what happens, no matter how either I or Horror reacts, you cannot touch any of us, understood? And I mean no matter what,” Nightmare warned them. “Not only will it break my concentration, there’s also a chance you will be infected. So no matter if we scream, cry or stumble, do _not_ touch us.”

The gang shared worried looks with each other, but nodded nonetheless to Nightmare. With that warning they knew this was going to be hard for them to watch, yet none of them wanted to leave the room in case Nightmare or Horror needed them.

“Can we move you in case you pass out?” Killer asked.

“Yeah, but give it a couple of minutes, just in case.”

Closing his one visible eye, Nightmare started to concentrate on the task at hand. Like when he would heal a wound, he hovered a hand above Horror around the midsection. At the beginning nothing happened, but suddenly a blue light surrounded his hand and slowly made its way down to Horror, flooding over his whole midsection like a river over stone. Nightmare was taken aback at the feeling of pain he now felt through Horror, now understanding how much Horror had suffered since he got sick. Nightmare could not allow him to be distracted and worked through the pain, concentrating in getting the job done.

When he felt ready he lifted his right hand over Horror’s ribcage and carefully summoned his soul. Horror’s ribcage started to glow a red color, indicating the soul was being summoned. However, when the soul showed the tip of the upside down heart, Nightmare gasped as he lost the hold of the soul and it went back to its place under Horror’s shirt. The gang all held their breath when that happened. They feared something had gone wrong and Nightmare would lose the concentration and open his eye, yet it did not happen. Nightmare remained motionless on the bed, letting the blue flow still glide down from his left hand onto Horror. The right hand stayed over Horror’s ribcage in the air, getting ready to try again.

Nightmare knew the soul was fighting back, not wanting to leave its host when he needed it. He let it be a little longer, hoping the soul would feel the healing magic flowing over Horror and lose its resistance. Nightmare tried summoning the soul again, needing to see it to be sure it was not being attacked by the poison. Taking a deep breath, he summoned Horror’s soul again, this time with more force. The soul still fought back, trying to stay in its host, but eventually could not hold on any longer and was being pulled out of Horror’s ribcage. Horror’s soul glowed faintly over his ribcage, its light flickering once in a while, showing the poor state it was in. It was barely glowing and had a slight red shade to it instead of being white like a normal monster soul. What was the most noticeable about the soul was the crack at the bottom left bell curve. Just like Horror’s skull a part of his soul was broken off, something none of them had ever seen before.

Despite not being able to see it, Nightmare got a picture of the condition of Horror’s soul in his mind. And he thought Killer’s soul looked weird. It puzzled him as to how Horror’s soul could look like that without being in pieces. He knew he could not blame the poison for that; if the poison was to blame then Horror would have been dead. Horror’s soul looked like that before he got poisoned, probably since before they met him. As far as Nightmare knew none of them was ashamed of their soul, but he also knew it was not something they showed around (except Killer, of course).

Making a mental note to ask Horror about how his soul could still be intact while missing a piece, Nightmare continued the task at hand, not wanting to be distracted like that again. The soul hovered over his right hand. Making sure to be careful around the fragile upside down heart, he carefully started covering the soul with the blue healing magic, making sure to feel any discomfort coming from the soul. Horror’s soul started to flicker as the blue magic surrounded it, but also seemed to glow more. Nightmare gritted his teeth together as he kept trying to heal Horror, as he tried to banish the poison.

Horror did not react much to begin with as he was still in a coma. He smiled slightly while the blue magic ran over his midsection, slowly making the pain disappear. The smile was replaced by a frown when someone tried to summon his soul. He shook his skull as if trying to tell whoever it was to stop. He cried out when his soul was slowly being summoned the first time, and whimpered when Nightmare lost his grip on it. The second time he cried out again even louder as Nightmare successfully summoned it at his second try. He started whimpering as he sensed his soul flooding over his ribcage without him having anything to do with it, but slowly quieted down to small sobs as the blue magic surrounded it.

Nightmare did not hear any of it, keeping his concentration on healing the magic and soul. He could feel the pain from the poison at his phalanges, slowly making its way to his body, as if warning him it would attack him if he did not stop. Nightmare ignored the feeling, but could not keep a gasp down as the feeling reached his body. Gritting his teeth tighter together, Nightmare did everything he could to ignore the pain and keep healing Horror from the poison. He was not sure how long he kept this up, but he noticed it became harder for him to ignore the pain. It was like a fire was burning inside of him, slowly turning him to dust. He felt his phalanges started shaking, especially the right hand that healed the soul. He could feel his own soul starting to protest, wanting this to stop as it was becoming too much for it. Nightmare did his best to ignore it, did his best to continue. A mental image entered his mind, showing him Horror lying in bed, screaming in pain, begging them to make it stop, helped Nightmare to keep going. He felt the poison slowly leaving Horror’s magic and soul, finally giving him a kind of release the painkillers could not.

Eventually it came to a point in which Nightmare could not take it anymore. The healing process was draining him of energy and the pain was making him dizzy. He now only noticed he was panting, sweat gliding down from his skull along with the tar covering his body. He did not want to stop, he had no idea if he had gotten all the poison from Horror’s system, but he knew it was a matter of time before he passed out, and he needed to stop the healing process before that happened or there would be a chance the poison would return, even the part he had healed.

Knowing he had no other choice, Nightmare started to stop the healing process. He returned the now more glowing soul back to Horror’s ribcage, no longer surrounded by the blue magic. Next the blue magic around Horror’s midsection slowly returned to Nightmare’s hand, where it vanished. The moment Nightmare no longer healed Horror, he passed out on the bed. The last thing he heard was his gang saying his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cause of Horror's disease has finally been revealed; a Death Cap. I might have overreacted sometimes when it comes to the pain Horror was in, but I've never tried or seen anyone suffering from the poison of the Death Cap. Everything there's said about is something I've read to.
> 
> I'm also not sure about the whole cleaning magic/soul, but it was the best I could come up with and is okay with it, I'm just not sure I described it well enough as it is meant to be very difficult.
> 
> And lastly I have no idea if Horror's soul is actually missing a piece, but I doubt it. I just got the idea, wrote it and liked it, so I kept it in the story :D


	9. Chapter 9

When Nightmare regained consciousness he wanted to just fall back asleep. He was exhausted after his attempt to heal Horror from the poison, and did not care how long he had been unconscious at that moment. Still he forced his blue eye open, wanting to know if he succeeded in freeing Horror from the poison or not.

He noticed first he was in his own room, a place he had barely been the last week with everything that had happened. It was dark, but a look over at the window showed that was only the case thanks to the blinds. Despite how much Nightmare wanted to see if he had indeed healed Horror, he stayed in bed for a minute, just looking at the ceiling in his own thoughts and enjoyed the silence. Living with four skeletons, especially the four he was living with, meant silence was a rarity. Not that they always made a lot of noise that could be heard all over the mansion, but at least one of them would always be awake doing something. Cross would train or draw, Killer would carve or talk on the phone, Dust would pull a prank making someone chase him or look at the stars, and Horror would cook something a sharpen his weapons. They rarely made a lot of noise, but it was rarely completely silent in the mansion. Not even now was it silent as Nightmare could hear footstep coming towards his room. When his door opened, he watched as Error stepped into his room.

“You’re finally awake, I see.”

“That I am,” Nightmare simply answered, sitting up in bed while Error walked over to him. “How long was I out?”

“Two days.”

“Two days!” Nightmare knew he had used a lot of energy healing Horror, he did not know it had been so much it knocked him out for two days. “What have I missed? Is Horror okay?”

Error sighed. “Well, Horror’s condition is stable as far as I can see. He’s still in a coma.”

Nightmare’s soul sank deep within him. “So it didn’t work,” he mumbled sadly.

“We don’t know that yet,” Error said. “He still lost HP after you passed out and throughout the following day. There was no pattern; sometimes he would have lost over ten HP after the last CHECK, other times he would not had lost any HP over six hours. He had not lost any HP at all yesterday or today, so there’s still hope. We can only wait now and hope he wakes up soon.”

Nightmare nodded. “Anything else I missed?”

Error sighed. “Dust and Cross’ relationship is still rather… tense,” he confessed. “They still won’t look at each other. Cross is downright afraid to leave Horror’s side. I only got him away from him by hiding sleeping pills in a chocolate bar. Dust spends most of his time in his room… I’m not sure what he’s doing in there, but I suspect he’s drowning in guilt. The few times he does leave his room he’s checking up on Horror, but not for long. If Cross is there, he leaves immediately.”

Nightmare sighed, having kind of expected it but at the same time hoped the two of them could have worked it through. “Is he sleeping at all?”

“Kind of. I’ve also given him sleeping pills a couple of times, but I don’t know how long they knocked him out.”

“What about Killer?”

“I’m afraid he’s not doing much better. He tried to bring Dust and Cross together, but Cross downright refuses. He had several times tried to get Dust to leave his room, but had always been ignored. And now… I think Killer’s losing hope as well. He doesn’t eat, he doesn’t sleep. I caught him breaking down yesterday in the living room…”

“… Did he cut himself?”

“Not as far as I could see,” Error answered. “I eventually calmed him down enough for him to fall asleep. I’m afraid nightmares gonna wake him up… again…”

Nightmare did not like the sound of all that. His gang was falling apart and he was not even sure he could do anything about it. He hoped he’s awaken could ease the gang just a little bit. He could at least take some of the pressure from Error and look after them now. Speaking of Error, the Destroyer looked exhausted beside him. Nightmare would not be surprised if he had not gotten any rest since he started looking for answers for them. Error was pretty good at hiding his exhausting, and because Nightmare had been worried about Horror, he had not noticed how tired the Destroyer had been. He did now.

“Error, maybe you should get some rest as well,” Nightmare suggested.

“We both know I don’t need sleep, Nightmare,” Error said.

“We do. We also know you get your energy back a lot faster if you get some rest,” Nightmare said, softening his gaze. “Error, I appreciate all you’ve done for us the last week. We never would’ve gotten this far without you, but I don’t want you to overwork yourself, especially not now when we can do nothing but wait. Take a break, you deserve it.”

“I can handle it, Nightmare, no need to worry about me,” Error said. “Besides, I think I’ll rest easier when I know Horror’s gonna be fine.”

Nightmare sighed. Error could be just as stubborn as the rest of them, if not more. Error did not need to sleep; he would get his energy back if he just takes it slow. Error would still act like any other tired monster when he was exhausted; slow, inattentive and weaker. He had done much for them the last week and deserved to get away from it all, if only for a day. He could not do anything more for them now other than be there for them, and while Nightmare did not mind Error’s company, he would prefer the Destroyer got a break. Unfortunately, sleeping magic does not work on Error, so Nightmare could not use that trick on him. Even if it did Nightmare doubted he had enough energy to even produce that simple magic trick. That did not mean he was about to let Error push himself even more. Knowing he could not get Error to rest, he tried another tactic.

“How about you visit Outer then?” Nightmare suggested, caught Error off guard. “I mean, you haven’t talked with him for days now, right? And the last time you saw him it was about his opinion on what could be wrong with Horror. I’m sure he’s been worried sick since your last visit.”

Error thought about it and had to admit Nightmare was right. His last visit to Outertale had been quick, and he had left in a hurry. Outer had asked him to keep him updated, and Error felt really bad now for not visiting him since that day. Outer deserved to know; he was after all the one who brought poison back to consider, and turned out to be correct. And if Error had to be honest, he missed his best friend.

Nightmare, meanwhile, tried to hide his victory smile while watching Error thinking it through; he could see on the other’s face how much he wanted to visit Outer. The only reason Nightmare suggested it in the first place was because Outer could convince Error to take it easy, and Error would actually listen to him. Error did after all have a soft spot for the space themed skeleton, much to his embarrassment.

“That might be a good idea,” Error admitted and smiled. “I’ll be back in an hour or two.”

_I doubt that_, Nightmare thought. Out loud he said; “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

With Error gone Nightmare stood up from the bed, getting ready to find his gang and see how bad their mental state was, while also hoping he could get them somewhat together.

***

Later that day Killer found himself yet again sitting by Horror’s side. He had been overjoyed when Nightmare woke up. He knew their leader was not in any danger after he passed out, but Killer could not help but worry about him when he did not wake up after the first day. The tension between Dust and Cross had not helped him at all. Killer tried to help them, tried to comfort them as best as he could, but no matter what he did he could not get them together, or even smile through it all. Killer could not blame them. He was losing hope as well.

He did not expect to break down when he did. Maybe he should have seen it coming? Killer had been with Horror when Cross came to take watch for him. Unlike the other times Killer did not say anything, just walked pass him with a blank expression. That should have warned him about what was coming, he just did not care. When he left the room he just walked away, until he found himself in the living room. That was when everything just hit him at once; Horror might die, Nightmare was unconscious, Dust was getting distant and Cross did not trust Dust anymore. The gang was falling apart, and Killer did not know how to stop that from happening. He had kept his emotions hidden for so long, tried not to break down through it all, tried to remain strong, but the reality caught up with him. And it hit him hard. Luckily Error found him and helped him through it, helping him not to give up.

Now while he was sitting alone with a comatose Horror, Killer could not help but slowly lose that hope again. Nightmare was awake, which Killer was grateful for. Not only did it mean his worry had indeed been in vain, but also that Nightmare could try and get Dust and Cross on good terms again. So far he was not sure if Nightmare exactly did that, and maybe that was for the best, as Killer suspected only Horror could do it. That was also what worried Killer. If Horror never woke up, Dust and Cross may never be able to work together, resulting in at least one of them leaving the gang, and then what? Killer doubted the gang could move on from that.

Killer had not noticed tears were rolling down his skull until a phalanges tried to brush them away. It did not get the job done and only removed half of the tears before it fell down on the bed.

“Please… don’t cry, Killer… I… don’t like it… when you cry.”

“Sorry,” Killer answered, brushing the rest of the tears away himself.

It took him a moment to realize someone had spoken to him, but he was alone in Horror’s room, except for Horror of course. But Horror was still in a coma. Looking down he almost did not believe what he was seeing; Horror smiled weakly up at him, his normal red eye light looking up at him while the other was just as empty as it used to be. They were open. Horror was awake.

Killer looked dumbfounded at him, tears already replacing the ones he just brushed away. Killer had never cared less about crying in front of someone in that moment. He wasted no time in getting up from the chair and almost tackled Horror still lying in bed. Horror grunted as Killer wrapped his arms around him, making the other apologize while he slowly loosened his grip on him. Despite being weak Horror did not allow him to let go already, knowing Killer needed this, and held around him, preventing him from moving away. They both knew Killer could easily get free from his hold, but Killer wrapped his arms around Horror again, this time more careful.

Killer had never been more grateful for being able to feel emotions as he did in that moment. For the first time in over a week he really believed everything was going to be okay. He pulled slightly away from Horror, but still had a hold on him, just to be sure he was really there. Tears still escaped his eye sockets.

“Horror! You… I… I can’t believe you’re…” Killer said through his excitement, not being able to form a full sentence. “You’re alive! You’re awake! I can’t believe you’re awake!”

Horror continued to smile weakly. He was not exactly sure what was going on, nor what had happened. His memories were a little blur, not sure what was real and what he had dreamt. He heard Killer was still talking, but he was no longer sure what the other was saying as he tried to remember what had happened. He did not have an answer to everything that happened, but he did remember some pits and pieces, including the pain he had been in. He could remember it as clear as day, yet he could not describe it.

He was really thirsty though and tried to let Killer know. “Kill…” he started weakly, but loud enough for the other to stop talking. “… Thirsty…” He started coughing.

“Right, of course! I’ll be right back!”

Killer was already on his way out before he started the sentence. Horror smiled widely, leaned back against the pillow to rest. He could not help but chuckle softly when he heard Killer yelling throughout the mansion.

“GUYS! HORROR’S AWAKE! HORROR’S REALLY AWAKE!”

His door burst open not a second later and he spotted the rest of the gang at his doorway, all looking either relieved, happy or mixture of both.

Horror smiled weakly their way. “Heya… guys,” he said, barely louder than a whisper.

It was enough to get the gang to move and Horror barely had time to blink before he was in the middle of a giant hug with them all. He chuckled as he heard them talk over each other, so he was not sure what each of them said. While he enjoyed being the source of their happiness, they also put too much pressure on him.

“Guys… I’m glad… to see you… too… but please… let go of me… you’re crushing me,” Horror managed to get out.

Just like Killer the others let go of him immediately, everyone apologizing. He smiled again, hoping it was enough to reassure them it was okay. Killer came back with a water bottle and Horror took it gracefully after he was being helped up in a sitting position. Never had water tasted as good as it did in that moment, Horror noticed as he drank the whole bottle. He barely registered the bottle was taken from him as he leaned against the wall and closed his eye sockets, breathing slowly.

Everyone kept an eye on him, slightly afraid he would fall back in a coma. They wanted nothing more than to just hold around him, but knew Horror had been through a lot and they may end up hurting him. They had Horror surrounded on the bed with Killer and Cross on each of his side while Nightmare and Dust sat opposite him, all waiting for some reaction from Horror.

“How are you feeling?” Nightmare eventually asked.

Horror took a deep breath and opened his eye sockets again. “Tired,” he answered. “Wha’ happened?”

Nightmare smiled. “We’ll tell you later,” he promised. “You should get some rest.”

Horror did not need to be told twice, already closing his eye sockets before Nightmare finished talking. It did not take long before he was fast asleep, this time not in a coma. They laid him back down on the bed, making sure he was as comfortable as possible. None of them talked while waiting for Horror to wake up again, all too deep in their own thoughts and happiness of seeing Horror awake and free from the pains.

When Horror woke up, he was not surprised at seeing them all still around him, though only Cross stayed on the bed with him. He still felt pretty weak, but at the same time felt more awake and asked again what had happened while he had been out of it. He could not remember much himself other than the feelings; the latest clear memory he could recall had been when he was outside with Cross at the mansion.

Cross picked up the tale at that point, explaining how he had dropped down in pain and scared him to death. They seemed to take turns on explaining what had happened while he had been sick, how panicked they had been and how sorry they were for not knowing what had been wrong with him, and for not being able to decrease the pain more than they had. Horror had never blamed them for that and told them so. They explained to him how they got Error to help, and how the Destroyer had searched the Multiverse for answers.

“So Error helped?” Horror asked, though it did not surprise him that much. What did surprise him was that Error was not with them now. “Where is he?”

Nightmare chuckled. “Probably hold ‘hostage’ in Outertale,” he said, making the others laugh as well. “He refused to rest, so I thought Outer could convince him. Considering he’s not back yet, I think he succeeded. Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll be back tomorrow.” Nightmare had considered contacting Error to let him know Horror had woken up, but changed his mind as he was sure that would only make Error return, and the Destroyer still needed a break, whether he admitted it or not.

They continued explaining what had happened, but kept the fight between Dust and Cross a secret, and what had caused it. Horror did suspect that were something they did not tell him, yet did not call them out for it, deciding it could wait. He knew he was not the only one that had suffered through all this. They then got to the part where they found out about what had caused Horror such pain, which Horror had widened his eye light in disbelief; he had not expected he had been poisoned, nor that it had been a little mushroom that had done it. Eventually they got to the part where Nightmare healed him, and Horror was quite fascinated by that, as he had never heard about cleaning the magic or soul.

Throughout the whole story Horror noticed how Dust barely talked, barely even looked at him. That behavior along with Cross not looking at Dust confirmed there was something they did not tell him. It was a little frustrating, yet he kept his mouth shut; there must be a reason why they did not tell him everything.

By the end of the tale Horror now had a better insight about what had happened. He felt tired yet again and out of habit tried to hide it, but everyone saw through him and told him to get some rest. This time Nightmare asked all to leave, saying everyone should get some rest as it was getting rather late. Horror would be surprised if he could keep them all away the whole night. For now none of them complained and wished Horror a good night. Horror smiled as he closed his eye sockets, ready to welcome a whole night sleep without any pain from a poison.

Horror gained consciousness during the night at the sound of someone lying down next to him. It was only after his intruder lay still for some time Horror opened his eye sockets and discovered Cross now lying next to him. He was surprised when he also saw Killer sleeping on a chair near his bed. Horror just smiled and went back to sleep. He suspected it will take some time before he got to sleep alone again, and he did not mind it at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Horror's finally awake! I've really missed writing him doing something else than being in pain, and now I can.


	10. Chapter 10

Horror awoke late noon the next day, surprised to see only Killer with him. Killer was reading a book in the same chair he slept in yesterday, and did not notice Horror stir at first, until he moved. Killer put the book down and watched as Horror blinked a couple of times.

“’morning Horror,” Killer said while handing the other a water bottle. “How’re you feeling?”

Horror gratefully took the water bottle and downed half of it before answering. “Tired,” he said. His voice still sounded weak, but not at much as yesterday. “’m really tired of being tired.”

Killer chuckled. “Well, you had been through a lot these past few weeks. That may be why you’re so tired,” Killer guessed.

Horror took a deep breath and sat up in the bed. His bones felt heavier than rocks while he felt weaker than ever before, so it took him a little while to sit up. Killer watched him carefully, ready to help if it was needed. When Horror got in a sitting position, he drank the rest of the water bottle.

“Ya want another one?” Killer asked, taking the now empty bottle back. “Or do you think you could eat something?”

Horror shook his skull to both questions. He was really hungry yet did not want anything. While no longer feeling nauseous a part of him was still afraid he would end up throwing it back up. “No, I’ll manage,” he answered. Looking around the room for a moment, he asked his own question. “Where are the others?”

“I’m guessing you already know Cross snuck in here during the night?”

“You did as well,” Horror pointed out with a smile.

Killer smiled sheepishly, but did not comment on it. “He must have had some nightmare as he woke up rather panicked. Luckily I woke up before he woke you. I think he was afraid you were still in a coma and wanted to make sure you weren’t. Anyway, Nightmare came and took him away. I think he’s in his room now, sleeping in his own bed. I’m not sure where Nightmare is at the moment, but I’ll guess his in office or room. As for Dust… I haven’t seen him since yesterday… I’m afraid he’s hiding in his room again.”

“Killer, what aren’t you guys telling me?” Horror asked. “Don’t give me that look, I know you weren’t telling me the whole story yesterday. Something happened, and I want to know what.”

Killer sighed. “Honestly, I think it’s best you talk to Dust and Cross about it,” he said. “They can explain it better than I can.”

Horror nodded, accepting that answer. Looking at Killer he could not help but wonder how he was doing. Horror had been the one in pain thanks to the poison, but he could not imagine what it much had been like to watch that happen to someone you care about. Killer was known to not show his emotions, at least the negative ones, to the rest of the gang. Even now Horror could see Killer was hiding something, and it had nothing to do with Dust and Cross.

“Are you okay, Killer?”

“Hm, oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Killer said, looking away.

Horror did not believe him for a second. With as little force as possible he got closer to the bedside where Killer was sitting. Killer did not notice him until he placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Please tell me, Killer,” Horror said when the other looked up at him.

“It’s stupid,” Killer mumbled.

“I don’t care. If it’s bothering you it’s bothering me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Killer kept quiet. He was tense but started to relax when he felt Horror glide a phalange up and down his humerus. He felt tears gather at his eye sockets. He could not hold them back long as Horror hugged him from the side as best as he could, and Killer could no longer hold it back. He let the tears fall and let out a sob, turning a little around so he could hug Horror at the front. Horror held him tight and whispered comforting words to him. Killer felt silly. He was the one who was supposed to comfort Horror not the other way around. Yet he could not stop and held onto Horror tighter, being comforted that he was still there, and awake.

While Horror did not mind the long hug, he did notice he had gotten closer to the edge of the bed when Killer hold tighter around him. Not wanting to fall down from the bed nor break the hug, Horror tried to guide Killer up on the bed and away from the edge. Killer did not want to let go of him, so when Horror started to guide him, he just followed without thinking about it.

When Killer calmed down he let go of Horror, but still did not look at him, instead looking down at the sheets. Horror smiled, making sure he still had a hand on the other’s shoulder. Gently he made Killer look up at him, asking again what was wrong.

Killer took a couple of deep breaths. “I-I guess it just caught up with me.”

“What?”

“Everything… You were in so much pain and we… we could do nothing about it. We didn’t even know what was wrong with you… You were dying, Horror! And we didn’t even know it. You… You almost… died. You almost died.”

“Hey, Killer, hey, look at me.”

Killer did as he was told.

Horror smiled at him. “See, I’m not dead. I’m not a pile of dust. I’m perfectly fine, thanks to you guys,” he said reassuring. “I… I cannot imagine what it must have been like to feel so helpless, but it’s over now. I’m fine, really. You did everything you could to help not only me, but the rest of the gang. It must not have been easy to keep the hope up when everyone was falling apart… I still don’t know what happened between Dust and Cross, but I’m gonna figure it out, and help them get over it as well.” Horror wiped the tearstains from Killer. “None of us is going anywhere. You won’t get rid of us that easily.”

Killer chuckled. “Thanks, Horror,” he said. “I… needed that.”

“Anytime,” Horror said, letting go of Killer. “So, am I bedridden or am I allowed to leave?”

“Why? Do you have anywhere you need to be?”

“Well, didn’t I just say I was gonna talk to Dust and Cross? And I think I should also talk to Nightmare to make sure he’s okay… I should also talk to Error… when he gets back, I mean.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it already?”

“Killer, I’m tired, nothing serious. I can handle a little talking.”

“… Alright, I let you go, if you eat something first.”

Horror sighed. “Walking right into a trap, didn’t I?”

“Yep. Just something light, Horror. You need to eat something.”

Horror sighed dramatic. “Fine,” he said. “But you’re gonna get it for me.”

“That’s what I thought,” Killer said as he got up from the bed. Before he left the room, he looked back again. “It’s good to have you back, Horror. And you better still be here when I get back.”

Horror just chuckled as he watched Killer leave. He had considered sneaking away when Killer left, but decided to stay put. Killer had been through a lot, Horror did not need to put him through even more. He could eat a little, keep Killer company for a while and then try to find the others.

***

Horror did fall asleep while talking to Killer, which looking back he should have seen coming. He did eat a little, much to Killer’s delight, and had decided to wait a little with finding the others to make sure he did not feel sick about eating something. Tasting the food reminded him how hungry he actually was. Still he did not eat that much, preferring to start it slow.

When he woke he find Killer still by his side, reading the same book as last time. Killer assured him he had only been asleep a little more than an hour, which delighted Horror. That was the shortest amount he slept since waken up from the coma, meaning his body might get some if its strength back. Unfortunately he was still tired, still only able to keep his eye sockets half open and it still felt like his body weighed far more than it should. He did not let that stop him as he wanted to talk to the others.

Standing up for the first time in almost two weeks was weird. His legs shook from suddenly being used again. Horror had to summon a bone long enough to support him from the floor. He kept a tight grip around the bone while he took some deep breaths, trying to stop his legs from shaken like that.

Killer was right beside him, ready to catch him if he ended up falling. “Are you sure about this, Horror?” he asked. “You look really… unsteady. Shouldn’t I just send someone to find you instead?”

Horror took a couple of more breaths before answering. “’m fine,” he said. “I can handle it. Besides, I’m really tired of just lying down all day.” Seeing Killer’s worried expression, Horror sighed good naturedly. “If it would make you feel better, you can help me find someone. I promise I’ll only find one of them now.”

“Alright, you win. Who do you wanna talk to first?”

“Um, Nightmare. He’s probably the easiest one.”

“Yeah. He’s also the one that’s going to yell at me the loudest for letting you walk around already.”

Horror just laughed as he started the slow walk towards Nightmare’s office. He used the bone as a walking stick and had Killer by his side. The walk was still very slow as he had not walked for about two weeks and his body was really exhausted. Somehow he made it to Nightmare’s office without being close to falling even once. Killer wished him good luck before leaving, knowing Nightmare would make sure Horror got back in bed when he no longer could keep awake.

That left Horror alone outside Nightmare’s room. Without hesitation he knocked on the door and got permission to enter.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” were the first thing Nightmare said after he closed the door behind him. While Nightmare was happy seeing Horror walking around again, he couldn’t help but worry at seeing the other being supported that much by the bloody bone.

“Eh, guess I’m tired of watching the ceiling all day,” Horror answered. His smile faded. “Nightmare, can we talk?”

Nightmare considered it for a moment. He would feel a lot better having Horror take it easy and stay in bed a little longer, at least until he did not need any support from any of them or a magic attack. On the other hand Horror must have wanted to talk to him about something, as he had taken the walk to his office like that.

“Alright,” Nightmare gave in to his curiosity. He could always teleport Horror back if it came to that. “But let us at least get you seated somewhere.”

Horror hoped he did not show how relieved he was at hearing that. Nightmare helped him into the room and onto a table. Horror placed the bone that had supported him down beside him and swinged his legs back and forth while he watched Nightmare stand opposite him.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Nightmare asked.

Horror hesitated, looking away for a second. “Well, I just wanted to make sure… you are okay,” he said.

Nightmare blinked a couple of times in silence. “Me okay?” he said. “Horror, why would I not be okay? I’m not the one who’s recovering from a poison.”

“I know, I know,” Horror said. “But… during the retelling about what you’ve all been through because of me, I just… wanted to make sure you were… okay, I guess.”

Nightmare’s gaze softened. He walked closer to Horror and made the other look at him. “Horror, you don’t blame yourself for what happened, do you?” he asked.

Horror tried to look away, but Nightmare would not let him. “I was the one who ate the poison,” he whispered.

“You didn’t know. You can’t blame yourself for something you did not know, Horror. It was an accident.”

“Still, I put you through so much and-.

“And we will do it all over again if it would save your life,” Nightmare interrupted, sitting down next to Horror. “I’m not gonna lie, Horror, the past few weeks had been hell. We did not know what was wrong with you and many times we could do nothing but wait and listen to you scream. But I will gladly do it all again if it would safe your, or any of the others, life. We all would. You mistook a poisonous mushroom for a harmless one, you nearly died because of that, but you did not. Don’t take the blame for this, Horror. It wasn’t your fault. None of us could have predicted this would happen.”

Horror smiled, letting him be comforted at Nightmare’s words. He was not sure he could just let the guilt go already, but he did feel better after hearing that.

“Are you alright, Horror?” Nightmare suddenly asked.

“Hm?” Horror had been too deep in thought he did not hear Nightmare at first. “Yeah, I’m fine. Really tired, but fine.” Something in Nightmare’s expression made Horror ask an earlier question. “Are you sure you’re okay, Nightmare?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Nightmare said, looking towards the door at the other side of the room. “I guess I’m just a little worried the poison is still in your system. It did fool us once, and with me blacking out after healing you, I… I’m just not sure it’s completely gone.”

“Well, I’m awake, so that should be a good sign… right?”

“Yeah, we can again only wait and see,” Nightmare sighed. “I’m really getting tired of waiting.”

Horror chuckled. “I can imagine why,” he said.

A silence fell over them. Nightmare did not like the possibility that some of the poison could still be in Horror and they could go through all this again, except Nightmare was not sure he could clean the magic or soul again so soon. He had considered finding Error, as he was sure the Destroyer could say for sure if the poison was gone or not, but did not want to give in to his paranoia. Error would return, most likely later today. Nightmare could wait until then.

Healing Horror had not been easy and he could understand the pain he had been in thanks to that healing technique. He knew he was going to pass out into the process, but had at the same time hoped he would not, as that would mean he had succeeded in healing Horror. Thinking back on that whole process reminded Nightmare of something.

“I actually wanted to ask you something, Horror,” Nightmare started. “How can it be that your soul is missing a piece? I’ve never seen anything like that before. How can you even be alive with your soul looking like that?”

“Honestly, I dunno,” Horror shrugged. “I think I got it when Undyne gave me this,” he gestured to the crack in his skull. “I only had 1 HP back then. That should’ve killed me, but it did not. I can’t tell you how I survived because I have no idea. I guess my soul started cracking, which was how I lost a piece of it. But somehow it stopped. Somehow I didn’t die and could live on with a broken soul… I didn’t notice my soul looked like that until several months after it happened… Don’t worry about it, Nightmare. My soul’s looked like that for a long time. It should be stable.”

Nightmare nodded and trusted Horror in that statement as he would know best. If Horror’s soul had looked like that for such a long time without any consequences, there was no reason to worry about it. It had just caught him off guard as he never thought a soul could look like that without being on the verge of dying.

Without warning Horror suddenly jumped down from the table, getting support by the bone again. “Welp, I should go and talk to Dust and Cross,” he said, already walking towards the doorway.

Nightmare jumped down as well, ready to catch Horror if he needed to. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You look tired, Horror.”

“I always look tired,” Horror answered. “I’ll be fine.”

Nightmare doubted that, but did not follow him just yet. “Okay, if you say so,” he said and remembered something. “Oh, and Horror.” Horror turned around and Nightmare continued with a smile. “You are never allowed to eat a mushroom again.”

Horror chuckled. “That’s a rule I think I can honor.”

Turning back around Horror started walking again, but Nightmare noticed how he started shaken on his feet. His suspicion only proved correct as Horror stopped up, catching his breath and closing his eye sockets.

Nightmare got up beside him. “I think it’s time to get you back in bed,”

Horror groaned. “’m not that tired,” he mumbled. “I still need to talk to Dust and Cross.”

Nightmare was happy about Horror’s insisting on talking with Dust and Cross, but could also see he was too exhausted to do it now. “They can wait, Horror,” he said. “You should get some rest.”

“No,” Horror whined, opening his eye sockets again. “Something’s bothering them. I wanna know what.”

Nightmare sighed. Even when he was tired Horror could be stubborn. “How about you go back to your room and I sent Cross to you?” he suggested.

Horror accepted the suggestion and tried to move again, only to have his legs being too shaky to support him any longer. Nightmare caught him before he hit the floor and was about to tell him to be more careful, only to discover Horror had fallen asleep. Rolling his eye with a smile, Nightmare teleported them both to Horror’s room and placed him on the bed, letting him continue his recovery.

***

Nightmare could only smile victories at Error when he showed up later that day. Error did not even say anything as he appeared a few feet from him; just glared at him with his arms crossed. Nightmare was pleased to see the Destroyer no longer looked exhausted, so whatever he thought about Nightmare at the moment, Nightmare did not care that much.

“So, you must’ve gone into every detail of what happened if you’re just returning now,” Nightmare said, still smiling.

“You’re really sneaky, you know that?” Error asked, losing his glare and replaced it with a smile.

Nightmare shrugged. “Hey, if you won’t listen to me, I know you’ll listen to Outer.”

“I should’ve known I was walking into a trap,” Error mumbled. “I guess if I weren’t that tired I woulda seen it coming. Anyway, you’ve kept me in the dark long enough; how’s Horror?”

“He woke up yesterday. He’s pretty tired, but otherwise seems to be fine,” Nightmare said.

“Horror’s awake?” Error repeated. “Thank the stars for that. You’ve no idea how many times Outer had to stop me from returning and check up on him.”

“Yeah, sorry for keeping you in the dark. I thought it would be better for you to get some rest,” Nightmare admitted. “I do wanna ask ya something; is there a way for us to be sure the poison has really left him?”

“If he woke up the poison is gone, I promise you that Nightmare. Once he’s gotten enough rest, he should be as good as new.”

Nightmare felt relieved; finally he could let all the worry behind him. He had not even realized Error was walking away from him. “Where are you going?”

“To find Horror,” Error simply replied without looking back. “It’s not that I don’t trust you’re telling the truth, but I would still like to see him.”

Following Error they both walked the small walk to Horror’s room, without knowing if the blood covered skeleton was even awake. Error knocked gently on the door but did not wait for an answer before going in, excited to see how Horror was doing.

Horror had for once been left alone. He had been awake for some time now, just lying in bed and collecting his thoughts, mostly about how he was going to handle his future conversation with Dust and Cross. Still not having an idea what had happened between them, but knowing it had something to do with him, did not give him many clues about what was waiting for him. He was sure, however, whatever had happened he could fix it. Now that he was awake there was no reason to dwell on what had happened while he had been sick; at least that was what he hoped.

Horror was broken out of his thoughts at the sound of someone knocking on his door. His eye light brightened as he watched the two skeletons enter his room. “Error!” he said excitedly as he sat up in bed, now being able to do it much faster compared to yesterday. “You’re back.”

“Heya Horror,” Error greeted, walking up to him and sharing a hug with the skeleton. “How’re ya feeling?”

“Tired,” Horror answered as soon as they let go of each other. “But otherwise fine.”

“It is normal to feel tired after being in a coma,” Error informed. “Not to mention how much energy your body had used to fight the poison. You’ll probably be tired for another two days.”

Horror sighed dramatically. “It’s more fun to laze the day away when it’s your own choice.”

Nightmare and Error chuckled, glad to hear Horror did not sound as tired as they had thought he would. Nightmare decided to leave, getting the suspicion Horror wanted to talk to Error alone. Of what he did not know, but knew it would be easier for both Horror and Error if he was not there, as both of them was not good at talking about emotions. Coming up with an excuse to leave, Nightmare reminded Horror to take it easy before he left.

Horror rolled his eye behind Nightmare’s back. “He can be such a mother-hen sometimes,” he sighed, though a huge smile was present on his skull.

Error just chuckled as he sat down on a chair near the bed. “Can you really blame him this time? You did scare us all half to dead.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I had no idea a mushroom could cause so much harm.”

“Hey, you did not know it was poisonous. Don’t blame yourself for what happened, you didn’t know. And it’s over now.”

“Yeah… I… I do wanna thank you, Error, for, you know, everything you did.”

Error shrugged. “Eh, it was nothing. I’m just happy that you’re okay again.”

“No, Error, it was not ‘nothing_’_ and you know it,” Horror insisted. “You found out what was wrong with me. You found out how to cure me. You found a drug that could help me sleep despite being in pain. You didn’t rest at all in trying to find all that out. And while both I and Nightmare was unconscious you tried to hold the gang together and keep their hopes up… You saved my life, Error, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Error, not used to being praised, had no idea how to react. Lucky for him Horror spared him and hugged him again, thanking him again while holding him close. Error was still not always that good with being touched, but in that moment he did not think about it and hugged Horror back. When they separated they smiled and Horror brought them into a conversation about how Error found the needed information to identify what had been wrong with him. Error was more than happy about sharing that information and about his frustrations every time he thought he had found something, but turned out to be a dead end. The two of them talked for about an hour before they ran out of things to say, yet they also felt like they did not need to say anything more.

“Welp, I should probably get going,” Error eventually said. “I’d like to talk with Nightmare for a bit and then I think about going back to Outertale. Outer had been worried about you, by the way.”

“Heh, you can greet him from me,” Horror replied. “Um, Error, before you leave can you do me a favor?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Can you send Cross in here? I wanna talk with him.”

Horror believed he would get the needed answers a lot easier from Cross compared to Dust. Cross had been with him many times after he had woken up, although never alone for a long time. Horror had considered trying to talk with Cross doing the few times they were alone, but never had the energy to do so. Now that he finally seemed to regain his strength, at least enough to hold long conversations, Cross seemed to visit him less and less. He was still visiting, unlike Dust. Horror had not seen Dust since the retelling of what had happened since he got sick, having locked himself in his room. No one seemed to be able to get him out of the room, not even Nightmare. Horror needed to talk with both of them, and he suspected his talk with Dust would be a lot easier if he already knew what had happened. And it was only Cross that could give him those answers. Besides, he also wanted to know how Cross was holding up, knowing the other was putting a brave mask on every time they saw each other.

Error smiled knowingly. “Of course.”

Error left the room and a couple of minutes later Horror heard knocking on his door and Cross stepping in. Normally the gang would wait for permission to enter each other’s rooms unless there was an emergency, but because Horror still talked rather softly or could be fast asleep when they decided to check up on him, no one had bothered waiting for a response before going in. Horror did not mind, suspecting he could not talk loud enough to be heard from the other side of the door without getting a coughing fit, something he would rather avoid.

Cross closed the door behind him, looking rather nervous. “Um, Error said you wanted to speak with me,” he said without making eye contact.

“Yeah, can you come over here?” Horror asked.

Cross did not look bad exactly; he did not even look as tired as he did when Horror woke up. He looked rather uncomfortable, like he knew what Horror was going to ask him but did not have the soul to leave. He made sure to avoid any possible eye contact as he sat down opposite Horror on the bed.

“I haven’t seen you much lately,” Horror started, hoping he could get the other to relax by starting slow.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve just… had a lot to think about,” Cross said.

“Care to tell me about that?”

“… Not really…”

Horror sighed softly, hoping he did not sound frustrated. “Cross, tell me what’s bothering you.”

“… Nothing’s bother-.”

“There’s clearly something bothering you, stop denying it,” Horror interrupted, but not harshly. “Cross, I know you and the guys did not tell me the whole story yesterday. Something happened between you and Dust, and I have a slight suspicion it had something to do with me. What happened?”

Cross remained silent and Horror did not push him further, giving the other a chance to collect his thoughts. Cross still did not look at him, preferring to look down at the floor. He played with his phalanges on his lab and could feel his soul hammering in between his ribcage. Just like all the others he wanted this to end, wanted to put this behind him, yet he could not. He saw the image of Dust holding that syringe every time he closed his eye lights and dreamt he succeeded in his nightmares. He was afraid he could never trust Dust again. That thought terrified him, as he had always trusted them all with his life. Now he could not even look at Dust without feeling betrayed, feeling the anger and wanting to attack him again. He never did it, though he was not sure that was because he could hold himself back or because Dust always teleported away when they looked at each other. Cross knew Dust felt ashamed for what he almost did, the guilt was eating him away, yet Cross did nothing to stop it.

“I… don’t know where to start,” Cross admitted.

Cross almost jumped up from the bed when he felt a hand on his shoulder, not having noticed Horror had gotten next to him. For the first time since he entered the room, Cross looked up at Horror, making eye contact. Horror was smiling at him, a look of understanding even though he still did not know what had happened.

“Wherever you want,” Horror said. “Take your time, Cross. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You almost did…” Cross whispered. “You… almost died…”

“But I didn’t. See, still right here. You ain’t getting rid of me that easily.”

Cross smiled despite himself. “Yeah, I know. It’s still… hard to believe… I… I was starting to think we couldn’t help you. That it was too late.”

“Cross, I understand it was hard to see me like that, but you can’t keep on thinking about that. Otherwise it will tear you apart. Trust me, I know what it’s like to keep thinking what could have been and what was. It’s just not worth it.”

“I know. I just can’t help it sometimes.”

“And that’s okay. I only woke up yesterday after all, but just promise me you’ll try to let it go.”

“I… I’ll try.”

“That’s all I can ask,” Horror said as he removed his hand from Cross’ shoulder. “Now, will you tell me what happened between you and Dust?”

Cross nodded and took a deep breath. “Well, we had run into another dead end and Nightmare wanted us to search the Multiverse for answers. We were getting desperate and hoped one of us could find something,” Cross started his tale. “I was left behind to look after you. And I honestly did not mind that. I hated watching you suffering, but I would not know where to look for answers, so it was best to leave me with you. You… you suddenly got convulsions. You trashed about and I could not hold you down without risking hurting you. I somehow managed to call Dust, and he gave you the drug Error had given us.”

Horror nodded. He could not remember that happening, then again there were not a lot of things during his sickness he could remember.

“You calmed down after getting the drug, but you were still in pain. You suddenly said my name and…” Cross started shaking and breathed heavily.

“It’s okay, Cross,” Horror said, hugging him from the side. “Take your time.”

Cross leaned into the hug, being comforted that Horror was still there. Everything was fine now. “Y-y-ou as-asked us to k-k-kil-l-ll you,” Cross said between his sobs, starting crying again.

Horror widened his eye sockets in surprise at hearing that, but did not stop comforting Cross. He did have an image in his skull about begging someone to make the pain stop and kill him if they could not. He had thought it was just a dream, but by Cross’ explanation he had actually begged them to kill him.

“I-I tried to-o comfort you. I tri-tried to make you keep fighting. I’ve… never seen you like that. You were in so much pain, and I could do nothing but comfort you,” Cross took a moment to calm down. “Eventually the drug took over and you fell asleep. I’ve watched over you many times, but that was the worst one yet.”

“I… I’m sorry, Cross. I never intended to put you in that position,” Horror said. He could not imagine how he would react if one of the gang asked him to kill them, no matter the circumstances.

“It’s okay, really it is. I understand you were in pain and just wanted it to end. I can’t blame you for that.”

“Still, I am sorry for saying that and am glad that you didn’t do it,” Horror said, then remembered Cross had not mentioned Dust much. “How did Dust react to all that?”

Cross frowned, once again having the betrayed and hurtful expression. Horror did not like that expression, especially not on Cross, as he was not that easy to anger, at least towards one from the gang.

“He… he tried to kill you,” Cross said, his eye lights disappearing while he did so.

Horror was speechless, having not expected that. He did not blame Dust for doing it, as he had been begging them for it. Still it was hard to hear one of them tried to kill another.

“I did not understand his thinking. I can’t even remember what he said, but he was trying to justify it,” Cross continued. “I just saw red when he stepped closer to you, and we… we started fighting… I… I’ve never been so angry in a fight before… I… was ready to stop him no matter what, even if it meant killing him.” He looked down ashamed. “If Nightmare hadn’t showed up when he did, I think one of us would’ve died that day.”

“Cross, that’s not true.”

“It is!” Cross insisted, facing Horror again, tears gliding down his eye sockets. “I wanted to kill him, Horror! I wanted to stab him until I could no longer recognize him. I wanted-.”

Horror stopped his talking by hugging him fully, letting Cross cry into his hoodie. Now that he had gotten the while story, Horror could finally understand what Dust and Cross must have thought about. It explained why Dust had locked himself in his room, drowning in guilt and not wanted to talk to anyone. Cross was still angry at Dust for even considering it, but at the same time he felt just as guilty for wanting to kill Dust. All these emotions were taken its toll on both of them, and Horror knew they needed to forgive each other if they were going to work together again.

Cross slowly calmed down, but still held onto Horror, hoping the other would tell him it was going to be okay. He saw the gang as his new family, and he did not want to lose it. At the same time he did not know how to move on from this.

Horror patted Cross on his back while saying it was okay. “You would never have killed Dust, I simply cannot believe that,” he whispered and continued before Cross could object. “You may have wanted to hurt him, but I will never believe you would actually have killed him. You’re not like that, Cross. You would never kill any of us, no matter what bad decision we’ve made.”

Cross sniffled, not having it in him to disagree as he wanted to believe what Horror said.

Horror carefully ended the hug, making sure it was okay with Cross before doing so. “May I ask you something?” he said while looking Cross in the eyes. “Are you still mad at him?”

“Yes… No… I don’t know,” Cross confessed. “In a way I understand why he did it; you were in a lot of pain and we had no idea how to help you… maybe he saw it as the only solution? I… I know he regrets it, I really do. Maybe that’s why I’m not that mad at him anymore… And yet when I see him, I see this image where he stepped closer to you with that syringe with the intention to kill you and I get so mad again… I don’t wanna be mad at him anymore. I wanna forgive him. He just did what he thought was best for you. He just wanted it all to end.”

“You should tell him that, Cross,” Horror said. “You won’t forgive him until you talk with him. He won’t forgive himself unless we forgive him. I don’t blame him for almost killing me, neither should you.”

“I know… I am tired of all this… I want things to go back to normal.”

“So do I,” Horror admitted. “Will you talk with him? I know he needs it.”

Cross nodded. “I will,” he said. “He… didn’t mean to, that I know. He just wanted to help.”

“Good. Can you let me talk to him first though? Maybe I can bring him out of his self-proclaimed prison.”

Cross nodded, promising to wait until Horror had talked with Dust. He already felt a lot better after talking with Horror himself, he hoped Dust would feel the same. He stayed with Horror for the rest of the day, talking about whatever came to mind. Through their whole conversation Cross did not remember even once what he and Dust had been through, ready to leave it behind and move on.

He suddenly became aware of how much he talked compared to Horror and noticed how the blood covered skeleton was fighting a losing battle in keeping awake. Cross knew Horror had wanted to talk with Dust after he left, but that was clearly not going to happen with how tired he was. Deciding to talk more softly, Cross pretended not to notice Horror slowly falling asleep, as Horror would fight it harder if he knew Cross noticed. Eventually Horror fell asleep and Cross helped him lying down on the bed, happy to let his friend get some more rest.

This also meant Cross would have to wait to talk with Dust until tomorrow. He hoped Dust could hold on for so long.


	11. Chapter 11

“_Please, just kill me_!”

“_What if we can’t save him_?”

“_It’s for the best_.”

“_I can’t take this anymore_!”

“_Don’t you dare get anywhere near him._”

“_It hurts_…”

Horror awoke with a gasp, breathing heavily. It was rare for him to only dream about voices, or maybe he did see something and just could not remember? Whatever the case it was weird. Some of the things the voices said sounded like something he had heard before or had said himself, the others he could not remember. Maybe it was something one from the gang had said while he had been in pain? He was not always aware when someone was with him, but the few times he was he tried to listen to what they said, but could never remember it.

The voices weren’t necessarily bad, they just sounded panicked, weak or in pain. Yet the voices sounded like none of them, as far as Horror could remember. He was not sure and did not want to dwell too much about it. He was no longer in pain. He was fine, a little weak, but fine.

Looking around he noticed he was in his room. The last thing he remembered he was talking with Cross. Horror sighed, irritated at himself, figuring he must had falling asleep during that conversation. At least he got to talk things through with Cross. It also meant he did not get to talk with Dust, and Horror suspected he needed to do that as soon as possible.

He could not now, however, as it were dark outside, meaning the dust covered skeleton most likely were fast asleep. There were a chance he was not, as he was locked in his room doing who-knows-what, yet Horror did not want to take the chance in case Dust were sleeping.

Horror still needed to get up as he was very thirsty. He had not been able to set the usual food and water bottles on his night desk as he had been too weak (and forgetful) to do that, and his companions had not thought about it either. Horror was at that moment glad his nightmare had not been about starvation. Cross had gotten the night switch it seemed, or the X-themed skeleton just wanted to be with him, as he was sleeping in a chair near the bed. Not wanting to wake the other despite knowing that would have been the wisest decision, Horror got up from the bed and made his way towards the door. He was still shaky on his legs, but not as much this time and did not need anything to support him. He hoped he did not need that at all during this walk.

He was not that lucky. About halfway to the kitchen he started panting, slowly losing the little strength he had. Cursing quietly, Horror leaned against the wall to take a break. The slow walk had only made him thirstier and made him more determined to reach the kitchen. Knowing he had no choice if he wanted to reach the kitchen before morning, Horror summoned a bloody bone long enough to reach the floor and support him the rest of the way. The rest of the walk was slow going, but he eventually made it to the kitchen.

He could have sighed in relief as he reached his destination, knowing he needed to bring something back with him as he needed to go back as well. Horror ended up gasping in surprise instead as he saw someone was already in the kitchen, having not noticed it before thanks to the lights were turned off. Feeling against the wall, Horror located the switch and turned the lights on, surprising the other person enough to bang his head against the fridge door.

“Dust?” Horror said, recognizing the skeleton immediately. “You okay?” he added as the other groaned.

Dust had turned around when the lights were turned on, but had forgotten the door of the fridge and banged his skull against it. He groaned at the impact, though it did not hurt very much. He looked surprised at the doorway, knowing already who was standing there.

“Horror? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Horror smiled, walking into the kitchen. “I could ask you the same thing,” he said on the way, stopping near the kitchen table in case he needed to sit down. “I got thirsty.”

“Uh, yeah, me too,” Dust stuttered, losing the eye contact they shared.

Horror frowned, looking at the items Dust had placed on the kitchen counter. “Ya know, coffee won’t help you fall back to sleep,” he said. “I’ll take something else if you want to sleep the rest of the night.”

Dust remained silent. A part of him was happy seeing Horror, another just wanted him to go away.

“Unless, of course, that was your intention,” Horror guessed. “You only drink coffee when you don’t want to sleep, Dust.”

Dust sank his shoulders, knowing he had been caught, and remained silent. Horror took this opportunity to take a good look at Dust; he looked horrible. Dust had bags under his eye sockets, his clothes had a couple of rifts and he looked about ready to collapse. Horror actually seemed more awake than Dust did at that moment.

Still being supported by the blood covered bone, Horror walked over to Dust, gaining his attention. “How about you do like me and drink a glass of water instead,” he suggested with a smile.

Dust shook his skull. “No, I wanna… I need to stay awake.”

“Why?”

“… I don’t… I don’t wanna watch you die,” Dust whispered.

Horror nodded, understanding Dust must be plagued by nightmares. “You shoulda told Nightmare about that.”

“No… I don’t wanna bother him.”

“You know Nightmare do not mind. Heck, he does it for me at least once a week.”

“It’s fine, really Horror. I can handle it. ‘s just a phase.”

“Uh huh,” Horror said, eyeing the coffee pot steaming on the kitchen counter. “How about we talk about it then? That may help you.” He grabbed the coffee pot and held the coffee out in the sink. “Without the coffee.”

Dust just watched as his temporally ‘life saver’ was pouring down the drain. “Nah, that’s okay,” he said. “I can handl-.”

“You cannot handle this, Dust,” Horror interrupted. “Just look at you. You’re exhausted. You lock yourself in your room all day. You don’t talk to us.” He smiled again. “But now I wanna talk with ya. So do me a favor and grab three - maybe four, water bottles and let’s go to your room.”

“Horror, really, can’t this wait ‘till morning?”

“Nope, because then you’re gonna lock yourself in your room again,” Horror answered, looking inside the fridge to get the desired water bottles himself.

“But Horror, you need to rest.”

“I’ve just slept, you haven’t.” Horror took four water bottles from the fridge and handed them to Dust. “Let’s go.”

Dust just watched dumbfounded as Horror started to walk out of the kitchen. When he stopped for a moment to catch his breath, Dust finally followed and got up beside him. “Are you sure you’re up for it?” he tried to get out of it again.

“Dust, I do wanna talk with ya. We might as well do it now,” Horror answered. “We cannot talk in my room as Cross is sleeping there, and I don’t wanna wake him. So I’m on my way to your room. You can either help me up there or I’m just gonna meet you there. No matter what, I’m not letting you go.”

Dust sighed, accepting defeat. “Fine, you win. I’ll help you up there,” he said and held his hand out. “I know a shortcut.”

Horror smiled in victory and accepted the hand. Next thing he knew he was standing in Dust’s room. Just like its owner the room looked a mess, items and clothes covered the floor along with pieces from the ruined furniture.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” Horror said sarcastic, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m sure Nightmare’s gonna be thrilled we’ve gotta replace your furniture… again.”

Dust did not answer him. After making sure Horror could stand fine on his own, he let go of him and walked over to a wall near the bed and sat down with his back against the wall. He pushed his legs up so he could hold around them and hid his skull between his legs, a position Horror suspected he had been in many times while being here by himself.

Horror followed suit, though not as fast. He sighed happily as he sat down beside Dust, making his support bone disappear as he now no longer needed it. He took one of the water bottles Dust had placed before him and started drinking it, given Dust a chance to collect his thoughts.

“Cross told me about what happened,” Horror started, suspecting Dust would never start on his own.

“… Then you know what I did,” Dust mumbled, his voice muffled in his shorts.

“What you _almost _did, yeah,” Horror confirmed. “Dust, it’s okay.”

“Okay?!” Dust yelled, lifting his skull to look at Horror. “Horror, I tried to _kill_ you! How is that okay?!”

“You just wanted to help.”

“How is killing you helping you?”

“You forget I asked you to.”

“That doesn’t make it right. Horror, do you even understand I tried to _kill_ you? If Cross hadn’t been there, you would be dead now! I almost killed you! And you are just sitting here and telling me it’s _okay_?!”

“Well, I will not lie, I’m glad you didn’t. But even if you did I wouldn’t have blamed you. Remember Dust, I _begged_ you to kill me. And I am truly sorry for putting you and Cross in that position. I did not think about what I said; I’m not even sure I knew what I was asking of you. The point is, it was my fault and you shouldn’t feel bad for thinking the way you did.”

“… You’re really one of kind, you know that?” Dust asked, but did not give Horror a chance to question what he meant by that. “_I’m_ the one who almost killed _you_, yet _you’re_ the one apologizing to _me_… I just can’t stop thinking about what if I did it? What if I actually killed you? Cross would’ve never forgiven me, I don’t think anyone would, and who could blame them? I woulda killed one of our own. I woulda breaking up the gang… If I killed you, you wouldn’t be here right now… I’ve never screwed up this badly before.”

“Well, just like I told Cross, you shouldn’t think too much about the ‘what if’s’. You cannot do that to yourself, Dust. I’m right here, you didn’t kill me. You helped saving me.”

“Pfft, how? I did nothing.”

“That’s not true. You tried to find out what was wrong with me, you comforted me when I needed you, and you helped Error find that mushroom. You saved me along with everyone else, and I cannot thank you enough for that, Dust.”

Dust got tears in his eyes. “How can you just forgive me like that?” he asked sorrowful. “How… I was determined to kill you, and yet you… I don’t understand.”

Horror smiled, wiping the tears away. “Because I know you, Dust,” he answered. “You would never hurt any of us if you could help it. You just wanted to help, not only me but everyone from the sorrow we felt. How can we blame you for that? Don’t beat yourself up any more over this, okay.”

“… I don’t think Cross would ever forgive me.”

“You don’t know unless you ask him. I talked with him earlier today, and I’m sure you can work this out.”

“Maybe… You’re really not mad at me?”

“Dust, I was never mad at you and never will be. I forgive you nonetheless if you want it, and I will tell you every day if I have to. You did nothing wrong, Dust.”

“I’m not sure I agree with you on that last part, but… you’re right. I cannot dwell more on the ‘what if’s’,” Dust said, finally smiling at Horror. “Though, I still need to apologize to Cross.”

“That you do, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He wants to talk to you about something as well, but I’ll let him handle that.”

“Leaving me in the dust?”

“As always.”

They both chuckled. Both felt exhausted as it became quiet between them, Dust especially as he had not had a full night rest since Horror got sick. None of them even had the energy to move from their position on the floor and fell asleep, happy that Horror was still alive and that the tension between Dust and Cross was almost solved.

***

Dust woke up with the feeling of being watched. Still feeling tired for not having slept through a whole night before Horror got sick, Dust kept his eye sockets closed, wanting to fall back asleep. He had not dreamt at all during this night, most likely thanks to his conversation with Horror during the night, and Dust wanted to sleep just a little longer. The feeling of being watched did not go away however, and Dust could no longer ignore it. Slowly opening his eye sockets he realized he had slept the night sitting against the wall, which was not the most unusual place he had ever woken up. What was unusual were the fact that he felt something (or someone) leaning against him. Looking to his right side he was not that surprised to see Horror was leaning against him, still fast asleep. Since Horror was still sleeping he was clearly not the one who was watching him, and that feeling was still not going away.

Looking up Dust noticed Cross was sitting not far from them, a piece of paper and a pencil in his hand. Normally Dust would know what that meant, but he was more surprised at seeing Cross in his room.

“Cross?”

“’morning Dust,” Cross said, still drawing on the paper. “Slept well?”

“… Yeah?” Dust said, not sure how to react at seeing Cross. He did relax slightly at the happy tone Cross used. “Whatcha doin’ in my room?”

Cross put the paper aside, looking up at Dust with a smile. “I woke up and discovered _he_,” he pointed at Horror, “was no longer in his room. Gave me quite a panic as I could not find him, until I looked in here. I could not bring myself to wake you up and you looked adorable leaning against each other like that, so I decided to sketch it.” He held up the piece of paper, showing a half finished sketch. “Can you go back to the position you were just in? I’m not done yet.”

Dust looked dumbfounded, making Cross chuckled lightly, which only made Dust more confused. Cross acted like nothing had happened, and while Dust was happy about it, he still felt like they needed to talk about it. He was not sure he could just pretend it never happened. Cross had of course not forgotten anything, but he still felt he owed it to Dust to appear happy instead of mad. He was tired of being angry or sad all the time, and now that Horror was fine, there were no reason to be either. He found this moment to be just as good as any to talk about it. Cross moved closer to Dust and Horror, so he and Dust did not need to talk that loud to each other and prevent Horror from waking up.

“I know, we need to talk,” Cross said as he sat down opposite Dust, enough room to touch him but also to give him space.

Dust nodded. He honestly did not feel ready to have this conversation, but on the other hand he suspected he would never be completely ready, so it might as well happen now. It also helped that Horror was right beside them, even though he was still asleep. His presence was enough to comfort them both and remind them he was still with them.

“I… I’m really sorry for what I did, Cross,” Dust started, feeling a lump in his nonexistent throat. “I have no idea what I was thinking, how I could justify my actions, but it was not okay. I… I almost killed Horror… I would have if you weren’t there… I-.”

“It’s okay, Dust,” Cross interrupted and wiped the few tears that had escaped his eye sockets. “In a way I understand why you did it. You just wanted to help, and while it was not the right way to do it, you did it for the right reason. I know you regret it, I know you’re sorry about it, and that’s all I need to know. I forgive you, we all have, and it’s time you forgive yourself.”

“… I don’t know if I can…”

“Then we’ll help you through it, all of us. We all make bad decisions, Dust, that’s why we’re a gang; we look out for each other, we help each other, and we prevent each other from doing those decisions.”

Dust smiled. “Thanks, Cross.”

“No problem. Besides, I also owe you an apology; I haven’t exactly been friendly towards you the last couple of days.”

“I deserved it.”

“You did not,” Cross insisted.

Cross only felt guiltier about it when he walked into Dust’s room and saw the condition of not only the room but also Dust. Even in his sleep Dust looked terrible, and while Cross is sure Dust would have felt guilty about it even if he hadn’t given him a hard time, him giving him the cold shoulder did not help in the matter, only adding to Dust’s newly formed depression. Cross just hoped he would snap out of it just as quickly.

“And I also owe you an apology,” Cross continued. “I should never have accused you of wanting to gain more LV. I know how much your past haunts you, and yet I used it against you with the intention to hurt you the worst way possible, and I’m really sorry for that.”

Dust could not lie that what Cross had said about him wanting to gain LV had hurt him, but not that much in the moment. He heard the words clearly, but did not react to them until he sat alone in the forest. While sitting out there he could not help but wonder if that had really been true; had he really just wanted to kill Horror to gain his LV? The thought had scared him, making him remember how thirsty he had been for LV before he joined the gang, nothing was going to stop his mission in becoming stronger, not even if it meant killing everyone he cared about. He could not go back to that state, he did not want to become like that again. His nightmares had mostly showed him going back to his insanity, killing Horror and later the rest of the gang to gain LV and become stronger, and no matter how many monsters he killed, he never became strong enough; he could always become stronger.

Despite how hurt he had been at that accusation, Dust could not blame Cross for assuming it. “You just wanted to stop me, and that was probably the most likely thing to say to get me to stop. I don’t blame you for saying that,” Dust said. “But I accept your apology.”

Cross smiled and Dust felt some of the weight from his shoulders had been lifted. He still felt guilty, but the people around him had forgiven him, which was more than he felt he deserved. He was still happy about it and hoped he one day could forgive himself.

Dust spotted the piece of paper Cross had been drawing on. “You better destroy that drawing by the way,” he said, trying to lift the mood.

Cross smiled and decided to take the bait. “Of course I won’t,” he said. “I did not lie when I said you two looked adorable.”

Dust reached out for him, but Cross easily dodged it and went just far enough away for Dust to be unable to reach him. Dust sighed in defeat as he could not move without disturbing Horror, which was the last thing he wanted to do.

“You win this time as I cannot move,” Dust admitted. “But I’m not going back to that position.”

“That’s okay, I took a picture, just in case,” Cross said with a smile, holding his phone up before hiding it away again. Softening his gaze, he added; “You should go back to sleep, Dust. No offence, but you look terrible.”

“I may be a little tired, but I’ll rather stay awake,” Dust said. “I’ll sleep later, I promise.”

Cross rolled his eye lights, but did not press the matter. Cross went over and sat beside Dust against the wall, and the two of them talked softly together while waiting for Horror to wake up.

***

A couple of days later Horror started to walk around without having to be supported by anything. He still had his moments where he needed to take a break or lean against something, but those episodes became rare. He was still not allowed to leave the hideout, much to his annoyance as he had not visited his brother back in Horrortale for over two weeks. He was sure his brother was fine, but he missed seeing him and did not like the thought of him worrying about him. He understood the others’ worry, as Horrortale was not the safest place to be, not even for him.

Horror spent now most of the day outside, being reminded how nice it was to be outside instead of inside the mansion all the time. He still was not allowed to train with the others, but he entertained himself by watching them train and tease them by making bloody bones appear beside them. He never tried to look innocent when they glared at him, knowing the blood on the bones gave him away. The others would glare at him good naturedly and would threaten to attack him if he did not stop, but deep inside they were happy that Horror could use his magic attacks without getting tired.

He also started cooking again, though never any dishes that required too much. The incident with the mushroom had made him more careful about what he made, and the fear of accidentally get poisoned again or even worse poison one of the others made him paranoid about every ingredient. It took some time to get him comfortable and not check ingredients that could not even be poisonous, but he eventually started to cook with as much passion as he once did.

Horror was rarely left alone, not that he expected that and did not mind it that much. He still slept a lot during the day, but he no longer slept for several hours at a time. At night it was different who would sleep with him. After the tension between Dust and Cross vanished, those two were usually the ones by his side at night. If he fell asleep somewhere else like the living room, all of them would usually stay with him.

A week had passed since Horror got cured and while he still got tired faster than he usually did, he could easily keep up in fighting. Just in case he was still not allowed to go on the few negative spreading trips they had. It was not every time they all were present on those trips, so it was not like they have not tried it before. Still, it felt wrong when Horror was not with them those times, as it was not his own decision. While he could not join them in their chaotic trips yet, Horror was now allowed to visit Horrortale again, which he wanted to do first thing in the morning. Killer was coming with him, just in case, not that Horror minded it. It would not be the first time someone accompanied him on his visits to Horrortale.

Right now it was late afternoon. They were all, including Error, gathered in the living room watching some horror movie. Nightmare would always comment on the bad decisions the main characters made and how bad the killer were, saying he would have killed them a long time ago. Killer loved the chasing scenes, always cheering the hunter on to just get them already. Dust and Cross would flinch sometimes at the jump scares, but otherwise seemed to enjoy the movie as well. Error did not pay much attention to the movie, keeping his focus on the latest doll he was knitting.

Horror did not pay that much attention to the movie either. He was laying on the armrest of the couch with his eyes closed. He would open his eye sockets sometimes when he heard screaming from the characters in the movie or laugh the few times it got Killer, Dust or Cross to scream, but most of the movie he kept his eye sockets closed.

Killer, sitting next to him, was the first one to notice his lack of attention on the movie when the characters met a bloody death, being chopped up by the killer, something Horror usually cheered on.

“Have you falling asleep, Horror?” he asked.

Horror smiled while opening his eye sockets. “Nope,” he answered. “I’m awake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done. I'm really happy how this one turned out and loved writing it. I do wanna remind everyone I'm no expert when it comes to the Death Cap, so I'm not sure how long you need to recover from it. Am just guessing here.
> 
> I also wanna say I have no idea when I'll post another story, as I'm no longer staying at home all day anymore. I do have some ideas and like I said in another chapter, I want to make a longer story for each of the gang and have already started on Cross' (honestly before I started this one, but got writerblock) and hope it will capture me just like this one did.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this story and don't hold back if you think there's something I can improve :D


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